By Dave Gudgeon

Last updated 05:36, Friday, 25 July 2008

NEARLY 40,000 older people in Cumbria have lost their nearest post office as a result of a closure programme, a charity claims.

No more service: John Platton closes up for the last time at the post office in Denton Holme

New research carried out by Help the Aged suggests that most of the 37,000 will have to travel at least half a mile to a replacement.

The charity believes older people, many with mobility problems, are not being given adequate consideration when consultations over closures take place.

More than 30 post offices in Cumbria will close down as a result of a rolling programme which will see 2,500, or one-in-five, disappear across the country.

Dr Alan Burnett, senior policy officer for Help the Aged, said: “Older people in Cumbria feel very strongly about this issue.

“When you have a mobility problem or difficulty getting around, a journey extended by only half a mile is not a simple matter of a little more exercise. It is almost a complete removal of the service.

“Older people in Cumbria are contacting us to say they feel ignored by the consultation process.

“It’s beginning to seem as if the Post Office is merely paying lip service to government consultation regulations and not really listening to the valuable local information being given to them.

“With each new closure, the Post Office has proposed a number of measures, including improvements to the remaining branches and extension of out-reach services.

“It is vital that these measures are properly thought through and introduced immediately to prevent the very real hardship these closures will cause older people,” added Dr Burnett.

“Help the Aged considers it of the utmost importance that older people get involved with what remains of this closure programme and continue to give the Post Office the local information that will allow the right decisions to be made.”

Help the Aged says that older people are a primary customer base for the Post Office, with thousands collecting their pensions direct from their local post office each week.

In the Carlisle area, Denton Holme, Upperby Spar Store, Great Orton and Penton are earmarked for closure while Botcherby was reprieved.

Penrith’s Scotland Road branch, Bolton and Knock, near Appleby, and Melmerby Village Shop (already temporarily closed) are under threat in Eden.