THE proposed post office closures are bad news and will cause many people and businesses genuine hardship.

Changing trends in consumerism have had a massive impact on numerous local facilities in the post-war period.

Post offices have closed in droves since the 1970s, as have corner shops. In more recent times we have seen the disappearance of the local petrol station, and further back in time we saw mass closure of cinemas in the 1950s and 1960s and the axing of railway lines and stations throughout the 1950s, followed by a huge cull in the mid-1960s.

The number of fish and chip shops have halved since their peak, and over the years many bus routes and services have ceased to operate.

These all boil down to usage of facilities. For example, although 11,000 people signed a petition to save York's Odeon, most of these people never used the cinema. I know, because I was one of the very few regulars and the place were sadly always devoid of customers.

So, to help these threatened post offices, instead of signing petitions I would suggest that people start using them like never before. Petitions do not generate income for our post offices. Most businesses are run by accountants interested only in profit.

Saving these post offices is in our hands, but it's by usage and not petitions.

Dale Edwards, Newborough Street, Bootham, York.