FOUR village postmasters demonstrated their support for last Wednesday's London rally, opposing the closure of rural post offices, and spoke of their fears for the future. Unable to attend the protest - when a four- million-name petition was handed in at Downing Street - Julian Taylor-Green, of Lindford Post Office and store; Jim Whittle, of Alfred Whittle and Sons Post Office and shop in Headley Down; Clive Bingle, of Beacon Hill Post Office and shop, and Michelle Reidy, of Grayshott Post Office and shop, got together in Grayshott to show their support for post offices to remain open. Mr Taylor-Green said over the past three years, 70 per cent of customers who had collected their pensions or benefits from him, now go to banks, and the loss of the Post Office card account might see up to half his business disappear. "The card account brings people into the shop, many of whom then make other transactions," he said. "If people are not collecting money here, then there is a loss of sales generally. We have not been given other things to sell to replace the income we have lost." Mr Whittle said he had seen post offices close in Headley, Churt and Whitehill, and added that, although the government might end the national £150 million Post Office subsidy in 2008 and card account by 2010, it had provided "no viable alternative" and therefore the chances of long-term survival were slim. He added: "If people are not coming into the shop, then the shop will close. It's a case of use us or lose us." Mr Bingle said the loss of the card account would "without doubt have the biggest effect" on his business, admitting that if this happened the store might have to close. Mrs Reidy said that she still served 1,500 to 2,000 people a week due to the number of local businesses who use the post office, but said she had still lost customers and also faced salary cuts after the Post Office decided to reduce prices to compete with other businesses offering the same services. The Post Office has warned that these reductions will be filtered down to postmasters, with Mrs Reidy bracing herself for a 30 per cent drop in the commission she makes on each type of transaction. n For more on the rally see page 10.