Post Office Limited this week announced 63 branches in West Yorkshire could be axed – including ones in South View Road, East Bierley, and Six Lanes End, Heckmondwike – as part of a national scheme.

Staincliffe post office in Halifax Road, Staincliffe, on the Heckmondwike border, is also earmarked to face the last post.

Plans to close East Bierley post office are especially upsetting for the postmistress, Penelope Scott-Rowley, who was determined to re-open her shop after a bungled ram-raid last month which destroyed the inside of her property.

Mrs Scott-Rowley is said to be devastated by Tuesday's announcement.

Ward councillor Andrew Palfreeman (Con) said: "We suspected that East Bierley might be in danger and after all the hard work that the post mistress has put into creating a true community facility, final confirmation is devastating.

"The closure would strike at the heart of the village and affect many people, especially the elderly, for whom the alternatives offered by the Post Office are totally impractical and unacceptable.

"We will be looking at the possible alternatives to the closure and will fight to get the best possible solution for everyone in the village. In the meantime I urge everyone to take advantage of the six week consultation period and make their views known to the Post Office."

Spen MP Mike Wood said the village's post office was a valuable one and he hoped people would join his bid to save it.

He has organised a public meeting tonight at 6.30pm at East Bierley First School, South View Road, for people to air their views.

He added: "Spen has not seen the level of closures up to now that other areas have seen. This is because local postmasters and I have been vigilant and we have worked together to protect the local network.

"However, this latest round is not about voluntary closures, it is about targeting the less viable post offices in the network – those that serve the fewest customers each week, that are the least profitable and that are in areas where there is an alternative branch."

The Post Office said under the proposals 89.8 per cent of the area's population would see no change. But that is little comfort for customers of branches on the hit list, which includes 10 in North Kirklees.

John Appleyard is a regular at the Six Lanes End post office.