MP Peter Luff is urging the Government to step in to protect rural post offices in Worcestershire from a discount offer by a major supermarket chain.

Mr Luff said local sub-post offices have complained Safeway is selling stamps ahead of Christmas at a discount.

The Mid-Worcestershire MP is concerned the supermarket's ploy in using stamps as a loss-leader to encourage shoppers will be a further ''nail in the coffin'' for rural post office trade in the vital pre-Christmas period.

He is particularly concerned the supermarket is tampering with a form of legal tender.

Mr Luff has now tabled a Commons question asking the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, to discuss this with the chairman of Consignia, the company that controls sub-post offices and sells the stamps to the supermarkets.

"People often use stamps to pay for things, particularly for mail order purposes.

''Safeway is discounting legal tender, which I think is very wrong indeed," he said.

"There's no objection to customers being able to buy stamps from supermarkets, petrol stations and newsagents.

"But it's just plain wrong for these other outlets to be able to sell stamps at a discount when the sub- offices themselves can't."

Sub-post offices are allocated the stamps by Consignia and are paid on a contractual basis for all their post office activity.

"If the supermarkets sell stamps at a discount, the sub-offices will lose a vital part of their trade," added Mr Luff.

Reduction

While Consignia has confirmed Safeway do not get any reduction on the stamps, Safeway has defended its position.

The chain claims the scheme only runs for one week, and it only ran it this year after Consignia did a survey to see whether sub-post offices lost custom after last year's trial run.

The survey findings indicated this was not the case.

Mr Luff is unconvinced.

"It's a double whammy for small post offices - another nail in their coffin. The Government must act and act urgently," he said.