COUNCILLORS and members of the public were left angry and disappointed by the explanation of the proposal to close the Whitehill Post Office at a public meeting on Tuesday.

East Hampshire District Council's north east area community committee heard that due to huge losses sustained by Post Office Ltd, it has had no choice but to close a third of urban post offices in the UK.

Simon Storer, the senior external relations manager of the Royal Mail Group, suggested that, along with many others, the Whitehill Post Office is not viable.

"We believe that the Whitehill branch would struggle in the future. The fact is, the way in which people use a post office now has significantly changed.

"People can now buy stamps from supermarkets, you do not have to buy a TV licence from a post office, and many benefits do not have to be collected in this way anymore. As a result many post offices are going out of business due to increasing overheads," said Mr Storer.

According to Paul Simmonds, area head of Post Office Ltd, 56 per cent of business for Whitehill Post Office is benefit-related, and this will soon be lost due to modernisation in the way benefits are distributed.

Mr Storer said: "Nobody would consider running a post office in that area, looking at financial figures. Any post office we keep open has to have a viable future, and at Whitehill it is dubious."

Whitehill town councillor Adam Carew was upset by the proposed closure, and maintained that it would have a severe effect on the local community, especially the more vulnerable members who use the service such as pensioners and young mothers.

"It is a considerable distance (1.3 miles to the nearest post office) for those without cars to walk and it will cost £1.50 on the bus to get to another.

" A pensioner could not afford to do it regularly.

"There are no guarantees that the nearby post offices will not also close in future. I understand that you are under pressure to streamline the business but we need to retain this integral part of the community," explained Mr Carew.

Mr Carew also pointed out that the figures provided by the Post Office relating to the number of people who use the service were not only inaccurate, because they exclude a vast number of people who would use the service, but also outdated, because they were three years old.

There was also a feeling that the businesses near the post office would also suffer because of the closure.

Mr Storer said that Post Office Ltd cannot be held responsible for the way that other businesses may be affected.

"It is no different from the many supermarkets that opened, which led to the closure of smaller shops.

"We are not closing a vast amount of post offices, but the closures will benefit those remaining in terms of increased revenue," explained Mr Storer.

Whitehill town councillor Zoya Faddy, along with members of public, said that the nearby Pine Hill Road Post Office at the Forest Centre was unable to cope with the current demand for its service.

"There are continually queues for the Pine Hill post office.

"You shouldn't use Whitehill as the sacrificial lamb to hit your targets," she remarked.

When Sam James, a NE community committee member, asked if the proposed closure would be reconsidered if someone offered to buy the Whitehill Post Office promising to turn it into a viable proposition, Mr Simmonds said no.