IN the not too distant past, the Post Office played a crucial role in every community.
It was the only place you could buy stamps, send a parcel, renew your car tax and collect your benefit payments.

But with increasing competition from other parties, not least the internet, the Post Office is losing business.

For example, you can buy stamps from almost any supermarket and newsagent and you can now get a tax disc for your car without even leaving the house, using the phone and internet service from the DVLA.

In fact, the Post Office lost £200m last year and the number of customers has fallen by four million to 24 million during the past two years.

But what other service providers cannot match, say postmasters, is the personal service and human contact.

In many of the village branches, customers are greeted by name and for some people it can be the only friendly face they see in days.

So is there a future for the Post Office or is competition driving it out of business?

Muriel Rigley, postmistress at Little Harrowden Post Office, one of the branches earmarked for closure, said: "There is nowhere else near here apart from going into Wellingborough or Kettering where you can get things like motor vehicle licences and Euros on demand.

"You might be able to get them on the internet or over the phone but it is indescribable how important that human contact is.

"It tends to be dismissed a lot but we know people who could go to a number of other Post Offices yet because we are friendly and helpful and listen to what they want, they come here.

"We get people from Kettering, Wellingborough and the five surrounding villages here and only one of those villages has a shop. They really do appreciate this service and the support has been overwhelming."

The customers the Evening Telegraph spoke to said they didn't use the Post Office very often but it would still be their first choice for services such as stamps and car tax.

Barbara Cleaver, 75, of Broadway, Kettering, said: "The Post Office is very handy for me and I usually go in to buy stamps and things. I don't go very often but I don't walk very far so it would be terrible to lose the branch near me."

And Gordon Steed, 74, of Water Meadow Close, Great Oakley, said: "I do believe the ones in Corby are pretty well-used.

"I will go in for my car tax each year and I mainly use it for posting a letter or something like that.

"I think it is important to support your local shop."