Post Office redundancies could threaten rural postal services, an MP has warned.

Howard Flight, MP for Arundel and South Downs, suggested the crisis facing Consignia, the company which runs the Royal Mail, would lead to the closure of sub-post offices.

Mr Flight said: "A shocking million items of mail are now being lost each week, equivalent to an average 1,500 each week across Arundel and South Downs as the company loses £1.2 million a day."

The Post Office's cuts include the scrapping of the second delivery.

Mr Flight said: "Our post offices are the lifeblood of local communities but their future is under threat of closure or bankruptcy.

"Vital community post offices and the universal postal service must be preserved."

Consignia announced losses of £1.1 billion and 17,000 redundancies over three years on Thursday.