Post Office closures a tragedy for rural areas: Lamb

6.13.50pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 14th Dec 2006

Responding to the announcement that 2,500 Post Offices will close by 2009, North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said the news is a "tragedy" for rural areas.

"These cuts are inevitably going to hit rural areas hardest, and it's a tragedy that Norfolk will be losing yet more of its Post Offices."

"Whilst the announcement of an extension to the rural subsidy is welcome, the Government have made a real hash of dealing with this issue as a whole. We should be investing in Post Offices and making them a hub for community services, not running the network into the ground."

"The Government clearly doesn't recognise the importance of Post Offices to village life. If the local Post Office closes, the local shop often goes with it."

The Liberal Democrats passed plans for saving the Post Office network, put forward by Norman Lamb, at their Harrogate Spring Conference in March. The plans included selling a 49% stake in Royal Mail to investors and using the £2bn raised to invest in the Post Office network, giving postmasters the opportunity to extend the range of counter services offered. 50% of the remaining shares would be put into a John Lewis style employee trust fund for the benefit of all Royal Mail workers.