SABDEN Post Office is at the heart of village life, but residents know the difficulty caused by not having the service on their doorstep.

Up until the summer of 2004, when the post office became part of the village store in Whalley Road, this small rural community had struggled without one of its main focal points for almost 18-months.

Now though, thanks to the efforts of Christopher Capstick who runs the busy post office alongside his mum, it is once again at the centre of the community.

And while the Sabden branch has escaped the latest round of Government cuts, customers using the shop are clear about the important role a post office plays in communities such as this.

As Paul Ashpitel, 63, of Watt Street, chats to neighbour Julia Ainsworth, 68, in front of the counter, the conversation ultimately turns to the action of the Government.

"We can't live without this place, we need it. A lot of people would have to catch buses if they wanted to go the post office and they can't.

"We need it here. They must be barmy to want to take them away from other communities," said Mr Ashpitel.

Mrs Ainsworth shares her neighbour's strong views.

She said: "If they touch this post office there will be a big reaction.

"It used to be owned by the country, but following Thatcher they started shutting them."

For many in the village the post office is part of the social fabric, a place where they see friends and keep up to date with the latest gossip.

But in a place like Sabden, which has several businesses, it also has a prominent commercial role to play.

Liz Smith, 47, of Pendle Street, works for Auto Partners which is based in the village.

She said: "I use it for work and personal matters and you know when you drop of a parcel here it will get to where you want it to go.

"From 2003-2004 we did not have a post office and we really missed it, it was nightmare. Everybody felt the loss."

Denise Heap, 54, of nearby Read, said: "What the Government is doing is disgusting and I feel really strongly about this.

"By shutting them it is depriving small communities of a lifeline for so many people, especially older ones.

"They don't see anyone else unless they go the post office and now they are trying to close them down.

"Everybody would struggle if we did not have a post office in the village.

"In our village there are regular bus routes to other areas but here it could be an hour or so between buses, how would people cope?"

Owner Christopher Capstick said: "We have a lot of people coming here for their pensions every week and we now do a lot of work for people posting items for eBay.

"That's actually brought a lot of young people in to the post office.

"Businesses in the village also use us a lot because they do a lot of posting through us.

"It's also a meeting place for people and on a Monday it is packed as people come in for their pensions."