"The much heralded Government Statement today on local Post Offices won’t help in Lichfield", says Michael Fabricant.

"Stephen Byers (Secretary of State for Trade and Industry) has said that it will only protect Post Offices with 6,300 clients or over. That will do little for smaller Post Offices like that in Kings Bromley. Moreover, all pensioners and benefits recipients will be forced to take out bank accounts with all the complications that arise from this. More worryingly, Stephen Byers could not answer the question as to who would pay for the bank charges: the pensioner and benefits recipient, the Post Office, or the Government. This uncertainty is bad news for the pensioner and for anyone on benefits. Only the very largest local Post Offices will benefit from today’s announcement".