I read your front page article on the closure of St Keverne Post Office with absolute horror. Especially as this is a flagrant breach of the Government's requirement for Post Office Ltd to do all it can to keep rural post offices open. The postmistress has been effectivly dismissed from her duties because she refuses to place her business at risk by incurring extra costs.

The Post Office does have a national policy for uniform opening hours in all of its outlets, but in this day and age of rising staff costs, etc., and the low income PO Ltd pays its sub-postmasters, this policy has become detrimental to many rural outlets.

The irony is that the Post Office has recognised this and is conducting a trial where sub-post offices choose the opening hours themselves based on the communities' needs and the needs of the sub office. So it is even more ludicrious that Mrs Lambert should have her contract terminated.

I beleive this is a jobsworth decision, and I urge all your readers to complain to Postwatch, the consumers representative body for post offices. They can be contacted at Postwatch, South and West, Egdon Hall, Lynch Lane, Weymouth, Dorset DT54 9DN.

Mrs Lambert is a member of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, and I am her national executive officer, and she will receive our full support. But members of the community must be aware of how easy it is for a village post office to disappear. Bureaucracy is often to blame, so please support St Keverne Post Office even if you do not use it.

Mark Baker, executive officer NFSP SW Region.