Controversial plans to close a number of urban post offices in Sussex have angered residents who are expected to make their feelings known at a public meeting.

The major changes announced by Royal Mail, which is losing more than £1 million a day, show these are not happy times for postal services in the country that pioneered the penny post and the distinctive red pillar boxes.

After decades of providing an exemplary service and making money, Royal Mail has started haemorrhaging cash and cutting back its services. The price of stamps is set to rise.

At the same time, there is a real chance it will face private competition and it is having to cope with the fact that millions of current users will be able to have benefits and pensions paid into bank accounts from April.

Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services, will be discussing problems at a meeting in the Quality Hotel in West Street, Brighton, on Wednesday, February 12, at 7.30pm.

Representatives of local organisations and members of the public will be able to have their say.

On the agenda will be changes to the way in which pensions and benefits are paid, closures and new delivery times for mail.

South-East chairman David Bland said: "These are the issues causing the greatest concern."

Several post offices have closed or been moved in the Brighton and Hove area during the past decade.

Now three more have been selected for possible closure, at Havelock Road, Bates Road and Ditchling Road in Brighton.

All three are being vigorously opposed by Brighton Pavilion Labour MP David Lepper, who has received many protests.

He was assured by the Post Office that factors to be taken into consideration before any closures were made would include the age of the population, local transport links and whether alternative post offices were easy to reach.

He said: "The proposal to close Havelock Road and Bates Road, redirecting customers to offices at the top of Preston Drive, the Hollingdean Dip and London Road Co-Op show that promise was worthless.

"Clearly, the people making these recommendations are completely ignorant about the area and the people who live there."

The MP said the only alternative branch with anything like a reasonable transport link was the Co-Op while elderly people would find it hard to walk up the steep hill of Preston Drove.

Mr Lepper said he was also asking the Post Office to think again about plans to close the Ditchling Road post office. His wife, local councillor Jeane Lepper, was also concerned about this closure.

She said: "It is the nearest branch to the 200 mainly elderly residents who live in Nettleton Court and Dudeney Lodge.

"Many residents say the alternatives suggested by the Post Office mean an uphill trek or the extra expense of a bus."

A Post Office spokesman said consultation on the three Brighton offices ended on February 3 and no decision would be made before then.

Closures are said to be sought because there were too many urban post offices serving too few people. Village post offices are not affected.

In April, when benefits can be paid directly to people's bank accounts rather than through post offices, most sub offices will lose 42 per cent of their business.

The post offices earmarked for possible closure have been chosen only after complex calculations and consultation with the sub postmasters.

Even after closures have been made, 95 per cent of people in Britain will still live within a mile of a post office.

A planning application has been sent to Brighton and Hove City Council for reviving the main post office in Ship Street.

This will enlarge the section open to the public to provide a better service and will also give access to disabled people.

The Post Office is looking at making only one delivery a day after trials in various parts of the country.

The second delivery takes 20 per cent of postal workers' cost and 30 per cent of the time for only four per cent of the mail.

Research has shown people do not mind very much when the mail is delivered as long as it is daily and reliable.

A spokesman said: "It will cut costs and will also provide a better and more efficient service."