READING the front page headline about post office closures I thought I was back in 1984 when two local post offices were threatened with closure.

At the time Bury Pensioners Association, which had just been founded, took up the case in conjunction with the population of pensioners living in the bungalows on Dumers Lane, Radcliffe. The two post offices under threat were Dumers Lane and Blackford Bridge, and a leading member of the campaign was the late George Jones and his wife.

After a hard-fought campaign we succeeded in keeping open the Dumers Lane office but, due to the lack of support around Blackford Bridge, we lost that one.

The difference this time is that the case for closure is supported by those who should actually be fighting to keep them open.

Our two MPs have both said, in effect, that it "would be dishonest to pretend that the local post office network is either viable or sustainable". What they do not say, of course, is that post offices are being put out of business as a result of the Government's policy of encouraging nay, forcing, people to use the banks.

David Chaytor MP makes the point that "Local sub post offices, in many cases , remain an important focal point for the community".

It is my considered opinion that the service offered by local post offices is so important that they should be defended at all cost. So come on, Ivan Lewis and David Chaytor, stop making excuses for closure, and let's go all-out to save this most important service for the community which you both serve.

P. KAISERMAN