Saddened, stunned and simply appalled – villagers' reactions this week after the proposed closure of 61 post offices was announced.
But they will not be giving up without a fight.
Alice Barnard, regional director for the Countryside Alliance, said: "This is sad news and will come as a shock to all those sub-postmasters on the list, but the fight certainly doesn't end here.
"Post offices are the social heart of many communities and without them many thousands of people, including many elderly and disabled, would be increasingly isolated."
West Suffolk MP Richard Spring said closures would have a 'devastating' effect on the elderly.
"I have spoken to and received many letters and emails from lots of local people who totally rely on these post offices," he said.
South West Norfolk MP Christopher Fraser criticised the proposals.
"It is clear to me that some of the alternative arrangements suggested are entirely inappropriate and are evidence of a basic misunderstanding of life in our villages," he said.
His request to attend a public meeting to meet sub-postmasters whose offices are due to close and hear the views of members of the public has been accepted by the Post Office.
"This one-size-fits-all policy does not work in the countryside – it could jeopardise village shops and be devastating for rural communities. I am fighting for every one of the post offices scheduled to close," said Mr Fraser.
Dr Wil Gibson, chief executive of Suffolk Acre (Action with Communities in Rural England), said: "Sometimes the services may not be financially viable but if a community is interested in providing that in a different way, such as through a village hall, we are happy to help."
David Ruffley, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, said Post Office Ltd had told him the three main grounds on which people could fight closures – but it was not making the reasons public.
Mr Ruffley said one of the grounds for appeal was where an area had a high proportion of elderly people without access to transport, while another would be if they had to climb steep hills to get to an alternative post office.
Post Office Ltd says the closures should mean that 95 per cent of people are still within three miles of another post office – as the crow flies. The final ground for appeal would be if the actual roads difference was much greater.
"None of this is being made clear by the Post Office – it is not giving the full information to the public to help them to complain about the closures. It's shocking, it's bogus, it is a shame," Mr Ruffley said.
The closures have been announced because post offices are running at a loss of £3 million a week nationwide, before Government support.
Laura Tarling, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Norfolk and West Suffolk, said: "We believe these proposals offer the best prospect for a sustainable way forward for Post Office services in Norfolk and West Suffolk, bearing in mind the minimum access criteria and the other factors to which we have to have regard."
Sally Reeve, national executive officer of the Federation of Sub-postmasters and chairman of the negotiation committee, said: "It is sad, but unfortunately business has been walking away from the Post Office.
"It is much better that Post Office Ltd is trying to manage closures by looking at access criteria, that in some way protects the community we serve, rather than leaving sub-postmasters unable to make a living."
She added the closures would prop up business at some of the rural post offices that have been saved.
But Breckland Council leader William Nunn described the closures as 'deplorable' and Daniel Cox, leader of Norfolk County Council, said: "These closures strike a disastrous blow at the heart of community life."
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