Our Counter Attack campaign prompted a remarkable reaction from readers. More than 1,000 of you signed Evening Press coupons demanding that our post offices are protected.

That response has been mirrored up and down the country. Outraged by the Government's threat to their sub post offices, people have signed petitions and written letters urging ministers to think again.

Today this campaign culminated in a mass rally in London. York's very own Dick Turpin volunteered to stand and deliver the Evening Press coupons to Downing Street. He declared that the State-inspired crisis amounted to "the daylight robbery of our post offices", and he is something of an expert on the subject.

There can be no doubt that our post office network is at risk. New figures show that the number of closures has nearly doubled. In the year ending in March, 383 offices closed, compared to 200 a year in the previous decade.

This trend will only accelerate if the Government switches benefits payments from post offices to claimants' bank accounts. That system would sound the death knell for countless branches.

New Labour's determination to press ahead with this change demonstrates that its zeal for modernisation has blinded it to the needs of ordinary people. Post offices provide a vital service to the communities they serve. In rural areas, often already abandoned by banks, shops and pubs, they are an essential lifeline.

The people who are campaigning against this misguided decision are not political agitators. Many are older people, worried about their pensions, and sub-postmasters and mistresses, the backbone of our society.

Shocked by the uprising, ministers have made concessions. Extra subsidy for the network was announced today. But they have a long way to go to convince customers that post offices are safe in their hands. New Labour ignores this very English revolt at its peril.