PLANS to close possibly thousands of post offices have been condemned by Otley councillor Graham Kirkland.

It was reported on Sunday by a national newspaper that Consignia was planning to close 1,000 post offices this year and 5,000 more in the next five years.

And although a spokesman for Consignia - formerly the Post Office - said the figures were pure speculation, he added that a restructuring was to take place.

Now, Coun Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Wharfedale) has called on people to use post offices as much as they can and put pressure on Consignia.

"I would urge people to lobby their locally elected representatives to put pressure on Consignia to take a step back and look at the social consequences of their actions."

He said post offices were a vital part of towns such as Otley.

"Local post offices are vital points for the loneliest and most vulnerable people in society.

"They can get their pensions and a wide variety of benefits in cash over the counter."

He said actually getting hold of cash for some was difficult.

"The vast majority of pensioners in this area do not have plastic cards, nor do they get money from teller machines, losing virtually half the nationwide network is certain to cause serious difficulty."

Coun Kirkland added: "At present they seem to be charging ever increasing prices for ever decreasing services. There are even possibilities of a second class post being lost as well. This will make communication more expensive and not everyone has email facilities."

A spokesman for Consignia, who this week appointed former Asda Chief-Executive Alan Leighton as their interim chairman, said the Sunday Times article was pure speculation.

He added: "We are looking at streamling the service, but nothing is concrete at the moment.

"There will be closures, but it will be within our urban network and not the rural network."