Last updated 19:41, Thursday, 20 March 2008

THE Post Office has been part of community life for generations, but like the village shop, the local school or the library its place is no longer guaranteed.

The first reaction of many people to this week’s news that the Government intends to shut 2,500 post offices - including eight in Allerdale - was that this is another nail in the coffin of local life.

That may be the case in some places - and we would certainly question the wisdom of closing any post office that helped to prop up the local shop - but an emotional response is not sufficient.

The Government is responding to the way many of us now live our lives - behind the wheel, at the computer screen, both mobile and discerning. It is why Tesco is a shop of choice, and why some services are even finding their way through its door.

It is a dilemma, of course, because people will suffer from the inconvenience and hardship of any post office closure - the elderly, and those with mobility problems.

Workington MP Tony Cunningham displays the conundrum, on the one hand voting against a Conservative move to stall the closure process, and on the other stating that he will fight to save some of the local offices.

In an ideal world, every neighbourhood would have its own post office.

In the real world, the only ones that survive will be the ones which adapt and pay their way.

There may be ways for a post office to be run from the local pub, say, or a community centre could operate it within a network of local services.

The crucial point is that people who want to save their post offices must use the present consultation period to come up with ideas for the future; they need to think of practical solutions.

If sound arguments are presented, some of these threatened post offices might still be able to deliver.