One of the men leading Britain's post office cull was taking a trip to East Sussex today after his head office was besieged by angry pensioners.

Post Office urban network general manager Richard Barker has accepted an invitation from Hastings and Rye Labour MP Michael Foster to see the level of opposition to seven closures in Hastings.

Mr Barker's visit comes 24 hours after more than 100 pensioners laid siege to the headquarters of Royal Mail in London.

They warned of the impact of branch closures on the elderly, the disabled and young families without transport.

Mr Foster said access to post offices in Hastings was difficult because of the hilly terrain but the town's social deprivation made them vital.

Thousands of people signed petitions and wrote letters in protest at the proposals but the company stuck by its decision.

It claimed too many branches were chasing too few customers and it had only considered closing branches where the sub-postmaster had volunteered for redundancy.

Mr Barker has given an assurance that significant investment would be made in the other branches.