Postmasters in mid Essex face an anxious three-year wait following plans to axe thousands of urban post offices.
As part of The Post Office's Network Reinvention programme 3,000 of the country's 9,000 urban offices will be shut in the next three years.
Chelmsford and Colchester already have half a dozen earmarked for closure and businesses in Braintree and Witham face an uncertain few years.
A spokesman for the Post Office said: "At present there are no plans to close any post offices in Braintree or Witham but that doesn't mean there won't be. It's a three-year rolling programme."
"The Post Office lost around £163 million last year and 50 per cent of our branches are in urban areas."
He added the Government's decision to stop paying pensions and benefits over the counter from April will also cause substantial losses.
Published Thursday, February 6, 2003
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