Post Offices Ltd confirmed on Tuesday that 58 branches in West Suffolk and Norfolk would close, including Fornham All Saints, Horringer, Cowlinge, Great Ashfield, Honington, Wattisfield and Whepstead.

Branches at Risby – which is already temporarily closed – Old Newton, Barton Mills and Combs Ford are also to go, along with Stowmarket's Crown Street and Nuns Bridges filling station, in Thetford, while offices at Wattisham Airfield and Gislingham are to be replaced by outreach services.

The decision came after a hard-fought campaign by villagers, who argued many customers would not be able to reach other branches easily if their post offices closed.

In the weeks leading up to the decision, hundreds of residents packed public meetings and turned out to rallies, while more than 5,000 people signed a petition to save their facilities.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council also objected to the closure of Fornham All Saints and Horringer, arguing it would hit elderly residents and those without cars.

In Fornham All Saints, where residents protested fiercely against the plans, manageress Lisa Whitehouse said her family, who also run Bury St Edmunds' Glastonbury Road branch, were shocked at the news.

"We're all really disappointed with the decision," she said. "We thought we had a strong case to keep it open and we never thought a business that has continued to grow each week and is profitable would be forced to close.

"We want to thank everyone for their support. We've made lots of friends at Fornham who are more than customers to us. Talking to everyone has been really upsetting. We were so shocked to get the final 'no'."

John Dekker, postmaster at Horringer, said: "I feel gutted. The village campaigned tremendously hard and they just can't understand it. They are absolutely saddened."

John White, Horringer Parish Council vice-chairman, said: "We're tremendously disappointed. It seems that the Post Office simply ignored all the representations – the parish council is very upset that we shall be losing our splendid postmaster."

Robin Howe, Honington Parish Council chairman, said elderly people in the village would have to catch a bus to the next post office – and wait several hours for the next bus back.

"It's just another nail in the coffin of rural communities," he said. "I don't think central government has much interest in rural communities – I just think they don't understand.

"The thing that's particularly galling is that we feel the decisions were made before the consultation process was started."

Wattisfield postmistress Andrea Wade said: "It's difficult when you've got elderly customers who can't get from A to B, especially as public transport is quite limited here. It has come as a bit of a blow."

Pamela Boura, who has been sub-postmistress at Barton Mills for seven years, said the news was 'very disappointing'.

"I have been expecting this for 18 months so it is not suprising, but it is very disappointing for the community to have lost another village facility," she said. "I'm grateful for the support from people in the community who wrote letters to try to keep it open."

Barton Mills parish councillor Francis Lewis said the council felt 'very distressed' for the community.

"It is the end of an era in Barton Mills because the post office is the last shop-type place open," she said. "It's almost the last communication centre in the village – people can put up information in the windows and Pamela provides information for people new to the village."

In Stowmarket, where residents and councillors marched the streets in protest, campaigner Rosie Carter said: "It is not the news we were expecting," she said. "There is no regard for anyone, we can't even appeal because they are a public body. The way the whole thing has been done stinks."

She said Heather Pugh, sub-postmistress at the Crown Street branch, now faced losing her home as well as her business.

Dee Suchack, sub-postmaster at Combs Ford, said: "I am devastated. I can't understand any of it. My prime concern is my customers and I will help them anyway I can."

Old Newton villagers were left shocked and angry after spending two months compiling a 43-page report for the Post Office on why their branch should stay open.

Melvyn Barnes, who led the campaign, said: "We are devastated. My heart goes out to the many disabled, elderly and housebound people here, who face a future without a post office and probably without a shop."

A Suffolk County Council spokesman said the authority would not follow neighbouring Essex's example, where the county council was considering taking on threatened branches to run – but added rural business grant applications from post offices threatened with closure would be welcomed.

The Government has said 95 per cent of the country's rural population will still be within three miles of their nearest branch after the closure programme, which will see 2,500 post offices shut nationwide.

Laura Tarling, Post Offices Ltd's network development manager for the area, said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly. We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation."

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