A WEST Somerset sub-postmaster has accused the Government of crisis management in deciding the future of rural post offices.

Graham Kennedy, sub postmaster at Alcombe, and secretary of the Taunton branch of the Federation of Sub-Postmasters, said uncertainty about the future of the post office was the most difficult thing for post office workers to deal with.

He said the Government subsidy of £150million a year was not likely to be renewed in 2008 and post offices faced the possibility of closure, especially in rural areas.

Mr Kennedy, who was addressing a meeting of West Somerset Labour Party, said it was a reality that post offices were often not financially viable, usually making an overall loss if the post office was not also offering a retail business, doubling up as the village shop.

Post offices in isolated and rural areas had a vital social function as a place where older people could meet, pay bills, and get advice and information.

He said if they closed it might be the shop next and the end of a village's life, beyond being somewhere for commuters to live.

Post offices had allowed people to cash and collect their pensions and benefits, and the move to have such payments paid directly into bank accounts, though cost effective, had implications for people with limited incomes and no experience of bank accounts, he said.

And he called for a properly funded assessment of what services are wanted and needed, which are financially viable, and which should be subsidised.

He said: "The Government must identify what sort of postal service it wants in the future and how it will be funded.

"No more crisis management," he added.