Post Office Ltd announced their decision to close 61 branches in West Yorkshire, with the first closures scheduled to take place in mid-August.

A total of 22 post offices in Leeds will now close, including branches at Britannia Road and Newlands in Morley and Bradford Road in Tingley.

The latest closures bring the total number of post offices to close in Morley since 2001 to five. The town will now have just two post offices for 48,000 people.

The decision came after a hard-fought campaign by local people who argued many customers would not be able to reach other branches easily if their post office closed.

In the weeks leading up to the decision, hundreds of residents turned out to protest while more than 5,000 signed petitions to save their facilities.

Morley town councillor Josie Jackson (MBI, Topcliffe), said she was disgusted with the decision.

She said: "We were taken very seriously with regards to all the petitions, so why they are doing it I do not know. What we have said seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

"I am disgusted with the situation. The people here will suffer enormously. It's a very upsetting day for them.

"The official date for closure isn't until August 8, so we now plan to appeal. I am very bitter about this, but we will carry on campaigning and I encourage everyone to fight it. We will not let the decision lie."

Coun Jackson added she and fellow MBI councillors were organising another protest at Morley Town Hall for July 26.

During the six week public consultation, Post Office Ltd received around 4,400 responses and attended 33 meetings with customers and their representatives to understand their concerns and to ensure that all information provided by them formed part of the final decision regarding each affected branch.

Adrian Wales, Post Office Ltd's Network Development Manager North East, said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly.

"We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation. We believe that the plan offers our customers in this area the best prospect for a sustainable network in the future, bearing in mind the Government's minimum access criteria and the other factors the Government has asked us to consider."

MP Colin Challen, who will lose four post offices in his Morley and Rothwell constituency, will meet with Post Office Minister Pat McFadden on Monday to express his opposition to the closures.

He said: "I am very disappointed with the decision and in my view the whole consultation period was a sham. In the meetings I had with them, it seemed rather clear that their minds were made up and there was very little leeway in putting this plan into practice."

Mayor of Morley Coun Terry Grayshon said the decision was a "tragedy" for the communities they served.

He said: "It's highly questionable how the proposals were for 22 post offices, then it transpires that all 22 are closing. It's all very curious.

"They provide services other than just post offices. It's not been thought through, it's a short term idea. It's just bizarre and quite clearly the Government has not listened.

"It's very sad for those who depend on it, not only the customers but those people whose livelihood it is too. It should not be happening. These post offices are the building blocks of the community."

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