At a meeting of St Edmundsbury Borough Council's cabinet on Wednesday, it was agreed a letter would be sent to Post Office Ltd objecting to the closure of Fornham All Saints and Horringer post offices and Chalkstone Post Office, in Haverhill.

But the council is not objecting to closures at Cowlinge, Honington, Risby or Whepstead, saying these are under-used and, in the case of Risby, temporarily closed, having had poor usage previously.

The letter argues that Fornham and Horringer are both well used by the local population, with seven businesses in the Fornhams using it to sell their products.

As well as serving the Fornhams it also serves Hengrave, Flempton, Lackford and West Stow and benefits from through traffic on the A134.

There is an elderly population, 22 per cent of residents are retired and 20 per cent do not own a car. There are also two old people's homes and pensioners' bungalows in the villages. It would also be difficult to access alternative post offices at Lake Avenue and St Olave's precinct due to existing bus services.

In Horringer, there is significant customer use and a growing population. It serves a wide catchment area, which will grow with the closure of Whepstead post office.

There would also be transport issues for people travelling to alternatives in Glastonbury Road and Ridley Road.

The council argues the closures will have the greatest impact on older people, young families and those without transport.

The letter urges that those post offices which are reprieved will have assurances there will not be further closure reviews for a specified number of years, to enable them to plan ahead financially.

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