AGE Concern national advisory panel member and Forest watchdog Daphne Pearson is dismayed that her local Post Office in Redbrook is to open on just one afternoon a week.

Lack of funding from the UK Post Office is given for the reason the mail and pensions counter in the village shop has to limit its hours. In fact the shop has been subsidising PO work for some time.

"It is going to make life quite difficult for many people," she says – especially as the nearest PO is now Monmouth.

"One ridiculous thing is the Government is now urging people to use their post office counter services," she adds.

"I understand one of the options being considered to replace the cheque clearing system is a card that can be used for cash withdrawals at – guess where – you local post office. Which isn't there!"

But post, particularly for parcels, is a real problem for the village and surrounding area. With many making mail order purchases, any returns will now have to be sent from Monmouth, and with several people not owning cars and only a limited bus service, life is going to be difficult.

"Not everyone will be able to weigh parcels at home and obtain the right postage on the internet either," says Daphne, who thinks the elderly will be hardest hit.

And she compares the 'cull' of post offices to the closure of railway branch lines in the 1960s – something many in Britain have regretted ever since.