A sub-post office which closed unexpectedly at Christmas may be sold to become a shop.

The leasehold on the post office in St George's Road, Brighton, has been put on the market by mail bosses with an asking price of £50,000 and may be sold to any commercial bidder.

The branch has been shut for more than a month, leaving some elderly residents without pension books and council rents unpaid.

No temporary staff were appointed to keep the service going or deal with problems.

Consignia, the troubled parent company of The Post Office, which runs post office branches, has been instructed to shave £50 million a year off the running costs of its offices.

Campaigners fear this could lead to a mass closure of sub-post offices in the next few months.

The Post Office said it was looking for a new post-master or mistress to take over the branch, so it could be reopened as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, customers were told to use alternative post offices further along St George's Road, 20 minutes walk away in St James's Street or a mile away in Whitehawk.

Now, without warning residents or councillors, a for sale sign has been put up outside the post office by estate agents Crickmay & Partners.

Kemp Town councillor Gill Mitchell fears the move is a way of making sure the branch is closed for good.

She said: "They have been instructed to consider bids from any commercial enterprise as well as from people who wish to run it as a post office.

"Usually, when The Post Office wants to retain a branch, it will instruct agents to only consider bids for that use.

"We feel that they are disposing of this branch by stealth and not being straight with local people."

No one at The Post Office was available to comment.