The Post Office network has been saved from the threat of further closures, the Government claimed yesterday – just three years after the cull of 11 outlets in Bradford.

Ministers announced a ten-year agreement with the Royal Mail, promising it would finally deliver certainty to postmasters after years of decline.

Edward Davey, the Postal Affairs Minister, said the deal – for the posting of letters, parcels, air mail, recorded and special deliveries over post office counters – would prevent further closures, maintaining a network of at least 11,500 branches.

Peter Finlay, postmaster at Menston post office and the regional secretary of the National Federation of Sub-postmasters, said: “Obviously the fact that there is a ten-year agreement is a great comfort to sub-postmasters.

“But at the end of the day, what is going to keep post offices open is people using them all the time.”