I refer to the letter "Toothless dog".

It should be noted that the proposed closure of post offices is just one of the items for consideration at a Postwatch public meeting (scheduled for February 12) that was planned several months before the Post Office initiated its "network reinvention" project.

The timing of the meeting seems to me to be just right, even though it has occurred by coincidence.

Assuming the Post Office announces its final decisions as quickly as it has indicated, we will be able to review the whole process at the public meeting.

We will be able to assess how far Post Office Ltd has taken into account the views of the customers who would be affected by any closures.

The reinvention programme is to run over the next three years, so there are many more post offices that will stand in the firing line.

These first cases are of great importance in establishing the ground rules for the consultative process.

Far from shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, this meeting will give members of the public a fair chance to see how far they have been consulted in what is a very painful series of decisions for the management and staff of the Post Office.

This will then be of significant use in developing the consultative process for the next 34 months.

Everyone can come and have their say.

-David Bland, Chairman, Postwatch, SE England