Protesters at a public meeting urged Royal Mail managers to review their proposals - which could lead to nine post offices being shut.

The organiser of the meeting, Mick Newton, criticised the timing of the six-week consultation period, which was launched just before Christmas.

He said: "We only have three weeks left of the consultation so it's important we hit the ground running and we turn this petition around as quickly as possible.

"We must maximise that petition and hopefully we should have a few thousand signatures by the end of the three week period."

No officials from the Post Office were available to attend the meeting, but a statement stressed that all views will be taken into account before any final decision is made.