Government plans to shut 15 post offices in the Grimsby area have been leaked prior to today's official announcement - reports the Grimsby Telegraph.
The secret list of proposed closures contains two branches in central Grimsby, as well as more in Louth and other rural areas.
The move is part of a national plan which will see about 2,500 post offices across the UK close by 2009 due to cutbacks in subsidies for loss-making offices from central government.
In all, 12 in the Grimsby area may shut completely and three would operate with drastically reduced hours.
Those proposed for closure are: Lambert Road, Grimsby; Humberstone Road, Grimsby ; Haborough; Newmarket, Louth; Brackenborough Road, Louth; Chapel Lane, Ashby-cum-Fenby; Brocklesby; Grimoldby; Fleetgate, Barton; Golf Road, Mablethorpe; West Rasen; South Somercotes.
Branches in Maltby-le-Marsh, North Kelsey and Tealby would continue to operate through an outreach service for 8 hours, 13 hours and 2 hours a week respectively.
The proposals will go out to public consultation over the next six weeks.
For people like 81-year-old Margaret Franklin, whose local branch in Newmarket is one of 15 the Government plans to shut down, the announcement is bad news.
She said: "I use this branch to check my pension, pay bills and post letters. It provides a vital service.
"There are usually great long queues here. A lot of people use it.
"I shall be very, very annoyed. It's a long walk to another post office."
Reacting to the news, Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell urged affected residents to make their views known in the consultation.
He said: "This process of closing our post offices needs to be resisted because post offices are a very important local service.
"Residents in Grimsby should get involved in the consultation process.
"It is essential that their views are heard, as I believe this is an undesirable tactic."
Martin Vickers, the Conservative Party's parliamentary candidate for Cleethorpes, said: "It's a dramatic reduction on what is a vital public service for market towns and rural communities brought about, to a great extent, by the Government policy of removing services, such as the ability to buy a TV licence from local post offices.
"I think the Government has already made its mind up, but having said that we must fight this every step of the way."
Cleethorpes MP Shona McIsaac needs to explain why she thinks it's more important to reward the wasteful and audit-failing European Union with a massive extra £7 billion by approving the EU budget deal, while post offices in her constituency are closing due to the inability of central government to afford sufficient subsidies.
Such blatant irresponsibility with scarce public funds is not something that local voters are likely to take very kindly to, come the next election.
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