STRUGGLING postmasters are facing bills of thousands of pounds after an administrative blunder by the Post Office.

They were told that cash machines fitted in their stores as part of a Government scheme to give rural and urban deprived areas better access to banks would cost nothing.

But it has emerged that they could be hit in the pocket every time a customer withdraws money.

In some cases, the bills could be backdated to when the ATMs were fitted three years ago.

The news comes on the day warnings are issued about the future of small rural businesses.

A study published by a coalition of campaign groups, including the Rural Shops Alliance, predicts that up to 650 country pubs and 400 village shops will close over the next 12 months.

The Northern Echo understands that at least ten post offices in the region have been affected by the mistake.

One sub-postmistress is facing a bill of more than £2,000 for a machine installed to help the community who use her tiny post office.

Colleen Ingham says she thought the cash machine was free when it was installed in November 2007 at Cockfield Post Office, in County Durham.

But in April, Mrs Ingham received a letter from the Post Office saying she would be charged for all the transactions carried out since the unit was installed and the money would be deducted from her salary.

The charge would be 60p plus VAT for every £100 withdrawn from the machine.

With £8,000 to £10,000 being taken from the machine every week, Mrs Ingham says the final fee owed could run into thousands.

She is paid 11p per transaction by machine provider Hanco, but taking into account the new charges, she is losing money every time it is used.

“I didn’t ask for the machine, but we have had it in the post office because it provides a very good service for the community,” she said.

“Post Office money is put into the machine and I class that as government money, so why are we paying for it?

“We are a very small shop and it doesn’t take a genius to work out this is going to cost us a fortune. We don’t want to lose the cash machine because it is a very important service.

“If this goes, the nearest one is in Bishop Auckland or Barnard Castle.”

The National Federation of Sub Postmasters is investigating the cash machine charges, although in the meantime, the ATMs are being kept in operation.

Marilyn Stoddart, the federation’s assistant general secretary, said: “We are currently working with Post Office Ltd and all parties concerned to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

“In 2006, sub-postmasters believed they would not be charged for the use of cash in their ATM machines, and that any costs would be borne by the third party supplier of those machines.

“There is now some confusion surrounding this, which we are working to overcome.

The interests of our members will remain paramount.”

A spokesman for the Post Office said: “Post Office Ltd apologises to those sub-postmasters whom we mistakenly did not charge fees for providing cash for their ATMs.

“We are currently reviewing this issue and examining options to resolve the situation fairly and are keeping all those affected fully informed.

“We will not, of course, be asking for these payments in a lump sum.”