Liberal Democrat councillors at North Yorkshire County Council today accused the ruling Conservatives of a lack of courage over post office closures.

The Post Office has proposed closure of 22 post offices in the county, with a further 18 becoming “outreach” offices, offering much more limited services.

In February this year the Lib Dems proposed a motion which would have committed the Council to opposing any further closures of post offices in North Yorkshire.

However, Tory and Labour councillors let the Government off the hook by supporting a Conservative amendment which watered down the motion to say that the Council “opposes any further closures without alternative appropriate provision being made.”

Richmond Lib Dem Councillor Stuart Parsons said:

“These closures will be a disaster for many communities, especially for elderly and vulnerable residents who rely on their local post offices for essential services.”

“When the Conservatives were last in Government, 3,500 post offices closed. Labour have already closed 4,000, and another 2,500 are set to close. That’s a rate of 300 closures a year over the last two decades.”

“The Tories are now asking people to make their voice heard and object to the closures – we urge them to join the national Lib Dem campaign at www.libdems.org.uk . But if they had spoken up more effectively for our communities in the first place we might not be in this situation now.”