D-DAY looms for post offices and their customers in our region, with people bracing themselves for decisions on their branches' future.

Post Office Ltd will announce next week whether any of the 50 branches earmarked for closure in York and North and East Yorkshire will be saved. The Press understands sub-postmasters are likely to find out on Monday, ahead of an official announcement later in the week.

Four branches in York have been placed on the closures list, along with a further 46 elsewhere in our area.

Meanwhile, the Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) has warned the planned closures could have a "devastating" impact on many small firms FPB representative Mathew Goodman said: "The Government's review of the postal service recognised the important social role that post office branches play within communities. Indeed, small firms in the vicinity frequently benefit from the passing trade.

"Closing these outlets, and the subsequent loss of the services they provide, could be a real body blow for many small businesses unless adequate alternative arrangements are put in place."

The Government has already revealed the list of branches that will be axed in various parts of the country, including Kent, the East Midlands, East Essex and Suffolk, Greater Glasgow, and Argyll and Bute. Closures in other parts of the country are to be announced later this year. In total, 2,500 post office branches are expected to go across the UK.

The Post Office is selecting the branches it wants to close using the Government's "national access criteria", which includes the stipulation that 95 per cent of a postcode district's population is within six miles of a post office.

The FPB says this is a reasonable way to reapportion postal services, but warns that religiously sticking to an approach based on population levels could fail to meet the individual needs of local communities - including the specific services required by small businesses.

The forum supports new, innovative ways of providing for remote communities to help offset the impact of the closures. Suggestions include situating post offices in alternative locations, such as pubs, and increasing the window of opportunity for mailings and providing mobile "outreach" services.