THE Post Office came under fire today after confirming that a seventh sub-post office in York is to shut.

Bishopthorpe Road Post Office will shut permanently on February 28 after bosses ruled that other branches were accessible for customers and could cope with the increase in business.

Spokesman for Post Office Ltd David Mellows-Facer said: "The harsh reality is that many urban offices are struggling to survive because there are too many branches for the amount of business.

"While I appreciate that it will be inconvenient for some customers to use alternative post offices, I have taken into account the local terrain, parking and public transport."

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 postal bosses said last autumn that they would reconsider proposals to close the Bishopthorpe Road branch, following a public consultation which resulted in a 1,500 signature petition.

York MP Hugh Bayley said today he would be raising concerns about the way the consultation process was run with Government ministers.

"I was hopeful that it would stay open," he said. "It is a bad decision to close both Bishopthorpe Road and Albemarle Road. Bishopthorpe Road is a shopping centre for local people and it will be a poorer one without a post office.

"I am not satisfied that the Post Office listened enough to local opinion. I want the Government to ask questions of the Post Office to stop ill-considered closures going ahead in York in the future."

Micklegate ward councillor David Evans said he was very disappointed by the decision.

"I thought we made a very strong case for keeping it open," he said. "There were alternative businesses willing to take it on. It is a successful post office, plenty of residents use it."

Coun Evans said Post Office Ltd had failed to make a business case for the closure and that that the nearest post office branch for residents would now be Micklegate. "It is a long walk and there is not a direct bus," he said.

Updated: 12:48 Wednesday, January 26, 2005