TOUGH new powers should be given to a consumer watchdog to help safeguard York's reduced post office network.

That's the verdict of city MP Hugh Bayley, who is pressing for talks with Government ministers in the aftermath of the shock decision to axe seven York branches.

One of the seven was Bishopthorpe Road - and Mr Bayley wants to raise concerns about the Post Office's "flawed" closure consultation.

Industry watchdog Postwatch recommended the Bishopthorpe Road site be saved and Post Office bosses received a 1,500-signature protest from customers opposed to the decision. But it became the seventh sub-post office boarded-up in the city after postal chiefs ruled other branches were accessible for customers and they could cope with the increase in business.

Six other York sub-post offices - in Gale Lane, Albemarle Road, Boroughbridge Road, Clarence Street, Fishergate and Holgate Road - have already shut as part of a national programme of urban closures.

But Mr Bayley, speaking after a meeting with Postwatch, said it was agreed they should press for the watchdog to get "more teeth".

He said he would keep lobbying for a meeting with Post Office Minister Gerry Sutcliffe to discuss the proposals and "serious flaws" in the consultation process.

The Labour backbencher said: "The consultation over post office closures in York was a farce and I will be pressing the minister to hold Post Office Ltd to account.

"There is no point having a consumer champion like Postwatch, if the Post Office can ignore what it says."

He said: "It annoys me the way that the Post Office said: 'Well, thanks for your view, but we're going to close the branch anyway'. I am going to talk to the minister about changing the rules to give Postwatch more teeth so it can block the closure of certain post offices.

He added that PostWatch should be given legally-binding powers to insist that a post office be provided in certain communities, like Bishopthorpe Road. "Lessons need to be learnt," said the MP.

Mr Bayley also said the Post Office target of making sure 95 per cent of people in urban areas like York lived within one mile of a branch was "utterly meaningless" because it did not produce local population figures to back this up.

"The Post Office must release much more information about the turnover of branches, and about how many people in urban areas are left living more than a mile away from a post office."

Post Office northern chief David Mellows-Facer has said the "harsh reality" was many urban offices were struggling to survive because there were too many branches.

Updated: 10:49 Wednesday, March 09, 2005