A Government minister has been urged to take action on Bradford's "totally inadequate" postal services following the closure of Bank Street post office.

Bradford Council leader Margaret Eaton has asked for an urgent meeting to discuss major problems which have emerged since the office was axed.

Post Office Ltd shut the city centre's busiest post office in November despite floods of letters and petitions signed by thousands of people objecting to it.

The company said the branch was not making money and the Darley Street and Sunbridge Road post offices could meet the demand if improvements were made.

And it told the Telegraph & Argus, which spearheaded a campaign to keep it open, that the development of the £300 million Broadway shopping centre only yards away was not a relevant factor in its decision.

Councillor Eaton has now written to Barry Gardiner, the parliamentary under-secretary for competitiveness, to demand a meeting to discuss the impact of the closure.

Her letter states: "The consequences of these decisions was that in the week before Christmas there were queues in the street outside the remaining city centre post offices where people were obliged to stand for up to 30 minutes before being served.

"I am particularly concerned at the number of elderly people who were forced to stand in the cold and rain for long periods."

She points out that people made it clear they were overwhelmingly against the closure during public consultation carried out before hand.

Coun Eaton adds: "I feel there is a clear example of a monopoly provider abusing their position and treating their customers with contempt.

"I should therefore welcome an opportunity to meet you as soon as possible so that you can explain to me and the people of Bradford how you intend to improve services to customers in this area as, at the present time, both the services and the access to them offered by the post office are totally inadequate."

Dave Walton, regional official of the Communication Workers Union - who collected thousands of signatures on a petition against the closure - said there were problems despite the major efforts of staff to meet the needs of the public.

However a spokesman for the minister told the Telegraph & Argus: "That decision was an operational decision for the Post Office and not the sort of thing the Government would interfere in."

A Post Office spokesman said a review of the level of service now offered by its city centre branches would take place early this year.

He added that an official was willing to meet Coun Eaton to discuss her concerns and apologised for recent queues.

But he said: "The weeks before Christmas are our busiest of the year and all our branches across the network experience a huge increase in business. Unfortunately, this can lead in some instances to increased queuing times but we do all we can to alleviate this."