Ref. 71795 Ferndale shopkeeper Sohail Awan with residents Jean Tucker and Kenneth Carter SAVE OUR POST OFFICES: DOZENS of Evening Advertiser readers have backed our campaign to save three Swindon post offices.

They support the idea that post offices are not merely buildings to cash benefits and pensions, but a vital part of their communities.

Last week we reported that the axe is hanging over branches in Clifton Street, Ferndale Road and Oxford Road.

Post Office Limited, which owns 16,000 branches across the UK, insists 2,500 must close in November to stem further massive debts.

The shutters could come down on all three in November if people fail to persuade the Post Office that they are making a mistake.

Kenneth Carter, who lives in Osborne Street, was just one of our readers to write in to support his local post office at Ferndale Road.

The 80-year-old said: "I have lived here since 1930 and the post office was here many years before that.

"They say it's not worth keeping it open because it doesn't have enough business.

"But there used to be less then half the people living in the area than there are now and the postmaster managed to make a living out of it.

"The post office is very well used, mostly by old age pensioners and mothers with young children.

"If it shuts we will have to get a bus to Gorse Hill.

"A lot of us are in our 70s or 80s and have got a job to get around.

"People my age would be vulnerable if we have a lot of money on our person after collecting our pensions.

"These officials should think about what they are doing and the inconvenience they are causing the elderly and young mothers before they act."

James Huntley, 82, of Slade Road, feels similarly about his local post office in Oxford Road.

He said: "We don't want it to shut. There are hardly any buses where we live and it is important to have a post office nearby."

The Post Office has given customers a deadline of September 27 to voice their concerns before a final decision is made.

Bhavani Vadde