THE Post Office faces a grassroots revolt over plans to close one-third of their urban offices in the UK.

Post Office Ltd say that the closures are necessary because the government switched the payment of most pension and benefit payments to direct debit last year, and claim that too many offices are now competing for too few customers.

But now subpostmasters are arguing that they never agreed to such a massive programme of closures.

In Gwent, urban post offices in Llantarnam, Croesyceiliog and Green-willows, Cwmbran, Freehold-land and High Street, Pon-typool, Fields Park Road and Royal Oak, Newport, Bloom-field Road, Blackwood, and Pontywaun have already closed.

And offices in Sebastopol, Blenheim Square and Pontrhydyrun, Cwmbran, Caerleon Road, Stow Park and Gaskell Street, Newport, Portskewett, Caldicot, and Stanhope Street, Abergaven-ny, will close their doors permanently at the beginning of next month, taking the total number of closures to 17 since June 2003.

Offices in Badminton Grove, Beaufort Hill, Garn-lydan, Rassau, Waunlwyd, Willowtown, Ebbw Vale, Cefn Golau, Tredegar and Malpas Road, Newport, remain under threat following a period of consultation with the public.

If they close, Gwent will have lost 25 of its 73 urban offices in less than 12 months - slightly more than a third.

But in a statement, the National Federation of Subpostmasters now says: "We are becoming increasingly disillusioned by the government's attitude tow-ards the Post Office network. We reluctantly recognised the need for a reorganisation of the urban network.

"The only way for the future is the creation of a brighter and better network of post offices - more modern, hi-tech offices offering an ever-greater range of services for customers.

"We accepted that some post offices would need to be closed or be amalgamated to make this aspiration a reality.

"The reality has been very different. We have never subscribed to 3,000 closures. We are left with confusion, uncertainty and a feeling of being set adrift."

A STORY in the South Wales Argus last week about closures of urban post offices across Gwent stated that the Sebastopol office in Torfaen was already closed and would not be re-opening.

This information, provided by Post Office Ltd, was inaccurate. The Sebastopol office is currently open but will close early in February.