THE men vying to be Worcester's MP after the next general election had a childish online spat about the future of the city's main post office.

We reported this week how current MP Mike Foster said the battle to secure ground floor access to Worcester's central post office when it moves to WH Smith, in the High Street, is not lost. He made the comments after meeting senior Royal Mail management.

The move to WH Smith has infuriated many, especially elderly customers, and concerns have been heightened as the store plans to install the counter on the first floor.

Robin Walker, the Tory candidate, had launched a campaign to keep the post office at Foregate Street.

Mr Foster said after the meeting: "All along, I have argued for ground-floor access. It is important that the managers who make the decision to move the post office away from Foregate Street know of the problems they will create.

"They took the decision and I told them they had got it wrong at this point. In this day and age, ground floor access should be a right not an add-on or optional extra."

The article produced the quip "Gotham will be saved" from reader Jim Evans, appparently implying that both men were casting themselves as superheroes protecting the citizens of Worcester. This started the Batman and Robin exchange.

Mr Walker said: "Batman may live but Robin launched a campaign on this a long time ago."

Mr Foster logged on to say: "The Boy Walker makes me laugh. He saw a bandwagon and jumped on it, with a petition that was no doubt used to extract details of voters to whom he could later write attacking the Government.

As other people added fuel to the schoolboy spat, Mid-Worcestershire Tory MP Peter Luff logged on to add: "As many of my constituents use Foregate Street post office, I just wanted to make absolutely clear that the foolish transfer of the office to WH Smith is Government policy, so it does seem more than a little odd when Labour politicians attack it."

Mr Foster then replied to another poster saying he protested about the move the minute it was announced. He continued with a withering attack on his Tory rivals: "Only weeks later, when the Boy Walker saw an opportunity to attack the Governmnet, did local Tories get involved. As for his babysitter, my neighbour Peter Luff, he knows decisions like these ones are made by managers from the Royal Mail, not Government ministers."