RYEDALE residents will have the chance to make their views known about impending post office closures at a public meeting tonight.

Ryedale District Council and North Yorkshire County Council have teamed up to organise the meeting in Malton, which will give local people the chance to question post office managers on their proposals.

Post offices at Terrington and in Church Street, Norton, face the threat of closure, with many outreach postal services facing cuts as part of a national programme to reduce the number of post offices.

Two top managers from Post Offices Ltd will attend the meeting, to be held at Ryedale House, at 6.30pm.

Coun Howard Keele, pictured, the leader of Ryedale's Liberal Democrats and councillor for Norton East, said the Church Street post office was vital.

"There's a considerable need for the branch in the main shopping area," he said. "It provides a valuable service, not just for local people, but for businesses which need to use it.

"As well as that, it has a cash machine. As far as I'm aware it's the only one in Norton. So day or night, whether it's open or not, there's a regular stream of people using it. We need to keep it."

He said the post office was more than just a service and that the Government should consider subsidising branches.

"In some of these villages, the Post Office is literally the last remaining bit of community that hasn't been lost," he said. "They perform an incredibly important function as well as their service role."

Meanwhile, more than 600 residents from villages in North Yorkshire have written to the Post Office consultation team to ask that their local post office team be saved.

Phil Lancaster, of Tollerton post office, sent letters to about 1,000 residents in neighbouring villages asking them to outline in writing why their branch should be saved.

He said between 600 and 700 people had responded.

"We have asked people to outline their own reasons why they don't want the post office to close - for example problems with bus services to an alternative post office - and we've been sending them off in batches. We hope this will make a difference."

In November, the Post Office announced proposals to close 22 post offices and restrict opening hours at another 18 across North Yorkshire.

To date, more than 4,000 people have now signed The Press' petition against plans to slash the number of post offices in our region.

Our Cut The Closures petition sailed past the landmark figure at the end of last year, a little more than a month after it was launched.

We began the campaign after revealing 50 post offices in York and North and East Yorkshire were set to shut, as part of a nationwide closure programme.

We have been backed by politicians of all parties, plus local businesses and residents.

The consultation period for our region ends on January 17.

* Petition forms or letters of support can be sent to Newsroom, The Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN.

To register your views on proposed post office closures or sign the online petition.