Silent assassin stalking your local post office

No lonely bugle call, shout of 'last orders' or razzmatazz fireworks display. The March 8th deadline for the end of the consultation process on post office closures is being marked with nothing more than stony silence.

Of course, a few action groups make one last noisy plea for common sense but within the hallowed corridors of Whitehall all you will see is tumbleweed drifting through.

This is the art of Government PR spin. Forget all that good-day-to-bury-bad-news stuff. If you really want to sweep unsavoury announcements under the carpet the best strategy is to remain mum.

The consultation process is all about allowing us - the inconvenient public - to have a say on the proposed axing of 2,500 post offices on an already depleted network. Since the start of the Millennium, Government meddling has already seen an 18,500-strong network depleted to 14,300.

This latest red-tape exercise is largely gloss as the number of closures is not even up for debate. It is only the goal posts - that fuzzy concept of what constitutes a local or vital lifeline - that is up for grabs as a discussion issue.

Roll on late March or early April and we can expect to hear the Government 'solution' as to how it will wield the axe - although it is likely the decision has already been made. Almost immediately, it will wash its hands of the whole bloody affair and pass closure responsibility on to the Post Office.

The first unlucky names are expected to be drawn out of the hat in July and given less than a couple of months - a period when many people are on holiday - to fight for survival before the grim reaper knocks on the local branch door.

And just when you thought it was safe to venture outside again, comfortable in the knowledge your post office has avoided the summer chop, there looms another nasty surprise.

As a damage limitation exercise the Post Office is drip-feeding out the fatal poison over 18 months. This means the last branch standing is not going to be killed off until the end of 2008 - just in time for a fresh round of closures.

- Toby Walne, Travels With Toby, Financial Mail on Sunday

Financial Mail's battle to save post offices