PLANS to close a third Kidderminster post office this year - as changes to the way benefits are paid start to bite - have sparked furious opposition.

Aggborough Post Office in Hoo Road will shut in June unless a key reason for keeping it open has been overlooked by the Post Office.

The company said "volume of opposition" was irrelevant but Aggborough district councillor Helen Dyke said a petition has been launched to fight the closure.

Hoo Road is not the first to face closure, Bewdley Road Post Office will close its doors for good on Saturday while the Broadwaters branch on Stourbridge Road will shut on April 24 - and more could follow.

Post Office spokesman Richard Hall said closures were part of a nationwide programme to cut the number of urban post offices. Aggborough Post Office, Hoo Road, is the latest to face closure.

"There are simply too many competing for too little business," he said. "Many of them are already struggling."

New Government policy - introduced this month - to start paying benefits and pensions directly into bank accounts was exacerbating the situation, Mr Hall added.

"This will potentially further reduce a postmaster's income by up to 40 per cent. They get paid per transaction."

Mr Hall said the Aggborough sub-postmaster had been consulted along with her colleagues nationwide to find candidates for closure.

"She's willing to leave the network. These people know how viable their business is."

The spokesman said both the Crown House and Comberton Hill branches were less than a mile from Aggborough but admitted "people with mobility problems" will be most concerned by the potential closure.

However, Mr Hall pointed out the final decision has not been taken and Wyre Forest District Council, district MP Richard Taylor and customers were being consulted.

Mrs Dyke slammed the Post Office's approach and predicted the petition circulating in Aggborough could make it think again.

She said: "What annoys residents is they are consulting after they've made the decision."

Mrs Dyke added residents had told her the bus service to the town centre was inadequate.

Mr Taylor expressed sadness at the closures but said following talks with one doomed district post office he saw no point in a campaign.

The Aggborough sub-postmaster declined to comment.

Views on the proposed closure should be sent by May 7 to Paul Maisey at National Consultation Team, PO Box 641, St Albans AL1 5XN.