THE Daily Echo today joins forces with Dorset's civic leaders to launch a Save Our Post Offices campaign.

With the threat of closure still hanging over 2,500 post offices, due to rising costs and fewer customers, and the consultation period due to end tomorrow, councillors and MPs are opposing any further closures.

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Dorset Community Action has estimated that the county's network of 122 post offices will be cut to fewer than 100 when the axe falls.

Spokesman Simon Thompson said: "This will cause eventual suffering to Dorset's most isolated and vulnerable people."

Cllr Nick King, a Bournemouth councillor and prospective Tory MP, has been organising a petition opposing closures.

He warned: "If people cannot access their money locally they will not spend it locally.

"There are a lot of older people who don't like the idea of having their money paid straight into a bank account and they should not have to do so."

Liberal Democrat councillor Emily Morrell-Cross, who has been campaigning over the issue in Bournemouth, said: "Post offices that are not economically viable are under threat.

"Although the government has not said which post offices are at risk of closure, branches are being offered £60,000 to close."

She added: "This is causing anguish and problems for all concerned.

"For some people their local post office is an absolute lifeline."

North Dorset Conservative MP Robert Walter, who has 45 post offices in his constituency, has urged residents to show their strength of feeling about keeping rural post offices.

He said: "Sub post offices are a vital part of our rural community and must be preserved.

"The current proposals will destroy many good businesses in Dorset, simply because the government does not have a long-term vision for the future of the post office network.

Mr Walter added: "If the local post office closes, often the last shop in the village closes as well."

Dorset Business President Chris Slocock said: "Unless new services are added it is hard to see how branches can survive a loss of business on this scale.

"A post office does much more than provide a friendly and accessible service for its customers.

"Like pharmacists, they are key to the vitality of locations."

Yesterday MPs called for the consultation time to be doubled to 12 weeks before any branch shuts.

Boscombe East councillor Andrew Garratt said: "By causing a rush to close branches, there is a serious risk the network will not be able to recover quickly enough and there will be gaps in service delivery."

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: "Older people need an end to the uncertainty over the future of the post office network, but this must be a lasting solution that is informed by the opinions of those who use and depend on post offices.

"The current plans will see closures based purely on distance and don't allow enough time for local opinions and local issues, such as public transport, to be examined."

A Royal Mail spokesman told the Daily Echo: "The network is currently losing £4 million - that is the big issue."