NEARLY 200 worried villagers turned out to fight for the future of Littleton post office on Thursday (November 15).

The branch, at Littleton Recreation Ground, in The Hall Way, is one of a dozen in the Winchester area threatened by closure, following an announcement by the Post Office in October.

Postmistress Chris Robins organised last week's meeting between Post Office officials, Littleton and Harestock Parish Council (LHPC) and concerned residents. She said the discussion was quite positive and that the feeling among the audience was strong.

Campaigners argued that - contrary to assertions from the Post Office - the alternative branch at Stoney Lane was not well served by public transport and that it did not have adequate off-road parking. They said there was just 24 parking spaces on the road, serving 12 shops, and that just six bus buses a day travelled between Littleton and the substitute store.

Steve Brine, Winchester's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservatives, said: "It was no surprise people turned out in their hundreds for Chris.

"To be fair to network development manager Tim Nickolls, when he met me in Winchester last month he gave a clear undertaking that this is a genuine consultation and the Post Office did want to hear from communities, as happened last week in Littleton.

"Any closures in this area will be a great loss to their communities, so even at this 11th hour I would urge local people to write in support of their services."

His Lib-Dem counterpart, Martin Tod, said: "It was an extremely well chaired meeting and there were some concrete reasons put forward for why the post office needs to think again.

"What we need is people writing in with substantive arguments explaining why the case the post office has put forward is wrong and that's what people got across at the meeting."

David Elsmore, parish council clerk, said they had asked the Post Office for figures relating to the Littleton store's profitability. He added that after receiving these, the parish council would investigate whether it is able to contribute any funds.

A spokeswoman for the Post Office, said: "The meeting was positive, gave us the opportunity to explain our position and allowed us to answer the questions posed by those who attended.

"We are still gathering feedback on our proposals as part of the formal consultation process. We will then consider all the feedback received before reaching our final decision."

The Post Office has set a deadline of Monday (November 26) for consultation responses. Write to Tim Nickolls, Network Development Manager, Post Office Ltd, c/o National Consultation Team, Freepost National Consultation Team.

Email consultation@postoffice.co.uk, visit www.postoffice.co.uk or phone 08457 223344.

A decision is expected on Tuesday, December 18.