FOR 17 years, Jennifer Evans has successfully run her village post office and shop with her husband, John.

The shop lies in the heart of Lazenby Village, a small community bet-ween Middlesbrough and Redcar, east Cleveland. But Lazenby Post Office, at 23 High Street, is one of the 37 branches in Cleveland, south Durham and Richmond, North Yorkshire, which is threatened with closure as part of a review of the network by Post Office Limited.

Three other branches in Redcar and Cleveland - Charlton's shop, in Saltburn; Moorsholm, in High Street, Moorsholm; and Park Avenue, in Redcar - also face the axe.

The Government and Post Office Limited say cuts are needed because the business is losing £4m a week as fewer people use it for traditional services such as benefits payments.

But many communities, residents and politicians have reacted to the proposals with anger. They say that closing post offices such as Lazenby could result in devastating consequences for both its owners and for villagers.

Mrs Evans said: "We are very disappointed, especially when I found out other post offices have been kept open like Loftus, which has two.

"We have not got a good bus service - there is not a regular service into Redcar.

"It is going to affect a lot of people in the village - not just elderly people, but there are a lot of young people who can't drive. We have also got the only cash machine in the village.

"It is the whole business aspect as well. We are certainly going to try and keep the shop going, but it depends how well it is used. If people have to go elsewhere to go to the post office, then they could pick their shopping up at the same time."

Mrs Evans said she was also providing free envelopes for people to send in objections.

Backing the campaign is the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Councillor George Dunning.

In a letter to Post Office Limited, which also objects to the closure of Park Avenue Post Office, in Redcar, he said: "You surely must know if you have visited these two post offices how the local people rely on the post office for items other than the normal postal services such as newspapers and groceries. If you were to go ahead, this would leave a huge void in these communities. This, along with poor local transport facilities, would virtually mean certain sections of these communities would be housebound.

"I am appealing to your social conscience to withdraw these proposed post office closures, and give our constituents the peace of mind they deserve by maintaining an essential post office service in these areas."