THE closure last year of more than 20 post offices in East Lancashire has left the elderly population vulnerable, according to a councillor.

A Government cost-cutting exercise saw the closure of 24 post offices in the area, many of them in villages with a large elderly population.

Villages including Hapton, Belthorn, Huncoat, Mellor Brook, Billington, Church and Barrowford all saw their post offices shut down.

The Lancashire Telegraph recently launched the Dying From the Cold campaign, after the shocking revelation that 38 people had died from the cold in East Lancashire so far this winter.

The campaign encourages people to keep an eye on vulnerable pensioners in their communities, while lobbying local MPs to raise the situation in Parliament, to highlight the difficulties faced by elderly people due to the cost of heating and the level of the state pension.

Coun Marlene Haworth, who represents the St Oswald’s ward that Belthorn falls in, said she was concerned elderly people might no longer feel a part of the community after their post office was gone.

Previously they would have regularly used it to collect their pensions as well as a chance to catch up with other villagers who would have noticed their absence.

“When the village post office closed it took away community participation and made it harder for people to feel a part of the community and to integrate”, she said.

“The postmaster will often know everybody and if someone doesn’t come in for their pension one week then they will raise the alarm. That no longer happens.

“Many people have learnt to live with it, though, even though it was an abysmal decision, and I admire the way they have adapted.”

Debra Kirkham, from Age Concern Lancashire, said they were very concerned about the effect of village post office closures.

She said: “Lancashire is full of rural areas and the elderly have been badly hit by post office closures.”