POST Office chiefs faced Blandford residents to learn what the closure of threatened counters will mean to the town.

A public meeting at the Larksmead Pavilion heard concerns voiced by local people about counters at Salisbury Road and Bland-ford Camp facing the axe.

Gridlocked streets, long queues, and the loss of a social outlet for the elderly were among the fears voiced to Mike Dalton, the Post Office's customer relations chief for the region.

Emily Gasson, the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary hopeful for North Dorset, raised concerns echoed by many people at the meeting.

"The Hilltop and Station Ward has a disproportionately high number of elderly and disabled people. There are nearly 450 businesses within one mile of the Salisbury Road post office. People on the industrial estate will have to go into town. It will be gridlock," said Ms Gasson.

Mr Dalton promised to pass concerns to the Post Office officials overseeing a consultation programme on closures for Dorset.

But the postal chief presented a series of hard statistics which had led to the proposed closure programme.

The loss of nearly £400 million a year in revenue from the scrapping of benefit books was just one of a series of commercial setbacks the Post Office had suffered in recent years, said Mr Dalton.

A decision by the BBC to use the Post Office's main rival for the administration of TV licence renewals had been another blow, he added.

"The government will continue to pump in about £150 million a year to the service. But we have to save money. Without doing so, we would not break even and more taxpayers' money would be spent," said Mr Dalton.

The Post Office's public consultation on the future of 28 post offices across Dorset ended on Monday.