'How will Bognor be served by one Post Office branch'

The Station Road branch inside Tesco Express shut for good at 1pm on Tuesday.

It was the last of five post offices around the town to be closed in a nationwide cull of the network.

The loss, with three jobs disappearing, means the branch's 1,000-1,500 customers a week have to go elsewhere.

Their most likely destination is to add to the near 4,000 weekly customers at the main post office in the High Street.

It is a prospect which appalled Moira Moreman. She had been using Station Road for the past five weeks after her previous local branch in South Bersted was among those which closed earlier. Mrs Moreman (84), of Orchard Way, said: "I think it's disgusting the way all these branches are being closed.

"How is all of Bognor going to be served in the main post office? People are standing outside in the street now, waiting to be served."

Mrs Moreman had been a customer of the South Bersted branch since she moved into the area in 1977.

Much of that time saw her collect her pension from there each week as well as buy stamps and other items.

She was forced to change her routine when that branch closed on May 23 and she had to start making the longer journey to Station Road. Her journey is now set to become longer still with a walk to the High Street.

"It used to take me five minutes from my home to collect my pension," she said.

"Now, I reckon it will take me easily 25 minutes to get to the main post office and then I have to spend all the extra time waiting there."

The first of the five branches to close was Aldwick in Aldwick Street on May 16.

Hawthorn Road, Craigweil in Aldwick and South Bersted were all shut during the following week.

The closures went ahead in spite of protests from customers, councillors and town MP Nick Gibb. They failed to persuade Post Office Ltd bosses to change their minds.

The loss of one in three of the post offices in the coastal urban area means a large area around the town centre has been left without a branch.

It is the same situation in Aldwick, where a huge hole has been punched into the previous neighbourhood coverage.

The Arun, Chichester and Midhurst branch of the Federation of Small Businesses has criticised the cuts in the post office network.

Branch chairman Audrey Whitney said: "The consequences of closures of local post offices are far reaching.

"The post office has a vital social role to play in the community, as well as helping to generate footfall for other local shops and businesses.

"We already face the loss of up to 50,000 small shops by 2015, so the prospect of additional post office closures represents yet another nail in the coffin of our high streets, local shopping parades and villages."

An FSB survey on the UK postal market revealed 97 per cent of small businesses felt the post office had a role to play in the local community.

The research also revealed 82 per cent of small businesses felt the closure of their local post office would have a significant impact on their business, and could lead to businesses being closed.