THE announcement of the closure of the Firth Moor post office in Darlington was greeted with shock and dismay yesterday.

The sub-office, in Brignall Moor Crescent, will be axed next month with the agreement of the present sub-postmaster and following consultation.

But residents on the estate, which is in the middle of a multi-million pound regeneration exercise, are unhappy with the decision.

Sally Forth, neighbourhood manager, said: "We are very shocked; in fact, we feel quite let down. We are putting a lot of work into the regeneration of a physical and social centre on the estate, to put the heart back into the community.

"This is going to cause practical difficulties for elderly people, who don't want to get on a bus to go to the post office to collect their pension.

"We now have a new school and we are building a new community centre and we feel the rug has been pulled from under our feet."

She pointed out that takings at the post office were bound to have fallen over the past two years, following the demolition of 350 houses in preparation for a completely new-look estate.

"The rebuilding starts within four weeks and there will be more houses here than ever before. We think this is a very short-sighted and retrograde step," she declared.

In future, the nearest post offices will be at the Neasham Road end of Geneva Road and a mile in the opposite direction in Yarm Road.

The closure is part of a national restructuring and modernisation exercise by the Post Office, which says too many urban outlets are fighting for too little business.