WINIFRED Rawlings believes she will be helpless if her local branch, Central Avenue in Welling, closes.

She uses a walking stick and cannot walk outdoors. She has an electric buggy for local use but doesn’t feel able to venture into town.

She told the Bexley Extra: "I have no idea what I will do without my branch, it is making me ill with worry."

Mrs Rawlings uses a stairlift at her home, can’t use buses and needs a taxi when she goes to the doctor.

She said: "I can hardly use a taxi to go to the next post office. I can’t let it wait outside because I don’t know how long I would have to queue for and how would I call one to get me home? I’m not a modern person and I don’t have a mobile phone."

Mrs Rawlings has also written to Paul Simmonds, Post Office Ltd head of area, her MP, Derek Conway, local councillor John Lawrenson and Age Concern.

Her letter to Mr Simmonds says: "Old age alone is not funny without you making life harder for us."

Mrs Bailey uses the Barnehurst branch and her nearest alternative post office is in Bexleyheath Broadway.

But since an operation for her osteoarthritis five months ago she has been housebound and unable to use her car.

Her husband Colin, 69, can walk to the Barnehurst branch but does not drive.

Mrs Bailey said: "I desperately need my nearest post office as I am unable to travel."

Daphne Bragg, 79, of Stanstead Crescent, Bexley, said: "I don’t drive and I am afraid to use a bus to reach an alternative branch. I have already had both hips replaced and a slight lurch on the bus and I would be back in hospital."

Winifred Bray, 86, of Jenton Avenue, Bexleyheath, said: "I have no car and cannot get to the Broadway as I cannot manage the bus."

Eight post offices in Bexley are now under threat of closure on top of nine already shut over the last 18 months.

Mr Beard said: "The Post Office is independent and has to make its own way but the Government has invested £2 million into keeping them going so I want to know why so many still have to close."

Mr Austin said: "I regret the fact that the Post Office has become more and more of a commercial enterprise rather than a public service."