AN INITIATIVE is being launched by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) to find out how its members in the Yorkshire and Humber area are being affected by sub-post office closures.

The initiative has been launched by the FSB's Yorkshire and Humber area policy unit, which represents 12,000 members across the region, in conjunction with post office regulator Postwatch. Other FSB members in the North-East are likely to be asked for their views later this year.

The research follows a warning by Postwatch that 3,000 urban post offices across the country, many of which will be in the Yorkshire and Humber area, will close in the next three years.

FSB members in Yorkshire and Humber can take part in the scheme by logging on to the FSB website, at www.FSB.org.uk, downloading a questionnaire and returning it by Sunday.

FSB Yorkshire and Humber policy unit development officer Denise Wilson said: "We have all heard a great deal about post office closures. The FSB wants to find out how this is affecting small businesses, which very often depend on local sub-post offices for their services.

"The findings of the research will also be used to support our members who are postmasters or postmistresses and whose livelihood is threatened by impending closures."