FOUR-AND-A-HALF years ago, when Louise Carlin bought the Jubilee Fields Post Office, in Coronation Avenue, Shildon, on paper the business was viable.

Situated within Shildon's Thickley ward, which is listed among the ten per cent most deprived in the country, it provides a lifeline to residents in receipt of a full range of benefits.

However, it is one of 2,500 branches throughout the UK that Post Office Ltd is looking to close as part of national cutbacks blamed on falling customer numbers.

Consultation is ongoing, but about 200 are expected to close in the North-East and North Yorkshire, including Jubilee Fields.

Mrs Carlin, 36, said there had been recent changes in the way people used post offices, but she added that things had levelled off and the business was still performing.

"There are always half-adozen or so people waiting for me to open on a morning, more on a Monday, and then a steady stream throughout the day. That's how it has always been really," she said.

"Some people tend to get benefits paid into their accounts, but we have a lot of new business, such as mobile top-ups and banking."

Many homes in Jubilee Fields, a former council estate, are now privately owned and the post office stands within a smart parade of shops, including a hair salon, mini supermarket, a chip shop and nearby pub.

This is despite high rates of unemployment and low income.

As well as being in the ten per cent most deprived in terms of high unemployment and low income, it is also in the 20 per cent most deprived areas in terms of education, skills and training.

Shildon Town Council has objected to Post Office Ltd about its proposal to close the "vital" branch.

Councillor John Smith said: "I cannot think of a worse thing for the residents of the estate than if Jubilee Fields Post Office shuts. Lots of people are on benefits - should they be expected to walk or pay for transport to another branch when this branch offers vital services on their doorstep? I think this town has to protest in the strongest possible sense."

Councillor Stuart Bird said: "The proposed closure has sent something of a shockwave through the estate.

"We have a lot of elderly people who can walk to Jubilee Fields for their pensions and other errands, but to get to other ones requires a bus or other transport, that increases the cost to them.

"It might not look like much on paper, but for these people, a pound or two each week is a huge cost they should not have to incur.

"The post office is a hub, people exchange information and meet neighbours. If Post Office take that away they are starting to eat into what the community is about.

"In deprived areas facilities like a post office are needed, not a luxury and we must fight the closure."

Mrs Carlin is urging people to make their feelings about the potential closure known.

Customers can sign the petition in the shop, call 08457- 223344, email consultation@ postoffice.co.uk or write to Post Office Ltd, Free Post, National Consultation Team.

* You can sign our online petition on the Downing Street website here