POSTMASTERS whose branches could be under threat of closure are keeping tight-lipped about their future.

Post Office staff in villages and towns across Gloucestershire have been sent letters telling them if they are to shut or not.

Last year the Post Office announced that it would be closing 2,500 of its branches across the country.

It claimed the network was not financially viable, with losses in the region of £3 million a week.

Postal staff in the county were due to be told of their fate two weeks before the official announcement on February 5, that will signal the start of a six week public consultation.

Residents in Kingswood, North Nibley, Uley, Sharpness, Slimbridge, Cam, Wotton-under-Edge and Dursley are all bracing themselves to find out whether or not they will lose their Post Office, with some communities already planning courses of action to take should their branch be earmarked for closure.

None contacted by the Gazette this week wanted to comment ahead of the official announcement.

Cllr John Cordwell, Gloucestershire county councillor for Wotton-under-Edge, said he was "very concerned" about the threat to rural services.

He said: "At the very least it would greatly inconvenience villagers; at worst, the declining local public transport service may make the remaining post offices inaccessible to some.

"It could also affect the viability of local shops that currently also run post offices, as customers will go elsewhere."

The Post Office said once the restructuring process is complete, 99 per cent of the population will live within three miles of a Post Office and 90 per cent within a mile.

For more information about the Post Office closures visit www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.