COUNCIL leaders have vowed to do all they can to save any local post offices from closure.

Kirklees and Calderdale councils will jointly campaign against cuts as it emerged the Post Office is considering closing 2,500 offices nationally.

No local branches will be named for closure until they come up for public consultation next year, but council officers are asking to meet Post Office bosses in preparation.

Kirklees council leader Clr Robert Light said: “We have been campaigning against the closure of post offices for a number of years now and we will continue that campaign should any future closures be announced in Kirklees.

“We wait with extreme nervousness in terms of any possible local cuts the government have planned.

“We have already lost a huge number of post offices across Kirklees. I would be very pleased if we didn’t have any cuts but I think that is, unfortunately, very unlikely.”

Asked about constituents’ concern in Kirklees’ outlying areas, Clr Light added: “It is very much a concern for us all. Our fear is that the cuts will be in rural areas; that they will be the post offices on the line.”

Calderdale councillors are supporting their Kirklees counterparts and will launch their own campaign if needed.

Clr Amanda Byrne, Cabinet member for community services on Calderdale Council, said: “Post Offices are an essential local facility for our residents, especially pensioners, young families and people living in our smaller communities.

“We will do everything we can to ensure that we do not lose them.”

She added that after the closure of seven Post Offices in 2005, any more would be detrimental to the area.

The Post Office announced last week that it would be starting a series of national public consultations to assess which branches will be closed in a bid to save money.

Talks are underway in East Yorkshire where the Post Office plans to close 45 branches. A further 58 closures are planned for Kent and 77 in the East Midlands.

Consultations for cuts to services in Calderdale will begin next April and in July for Kirklees. All closures will be made by the end of 2008.

Over recent years a number of post offices have already closed at: Primrose Hill, Berry Brow, Taylor Hill, Rawthorpe, Greenside, Hillhouse, Crosland Moor, Rastrick, Outlane and Marsden.