HUNDREDS of people across the county have signed petitions as concern grows over which rural post offices will be closed by the government in the coming months.

Whitehall announced last winter that around 2,500 post offices were to close across the country - mainly in rural areas - saying the current network of 14,000 outlets was unsustainable.

But some post offices in the county are already closing, with those responsible saying they do not feel the business is still viable.

Richard Hall, spokesman for Post Office Ltd, said that a restructuring of the network was necessary to ensure the Post Office does not continue to haemorrhage money each year.

"Last year the Post Office network lost around £111 million and the government wants to ensure the network runs in a sustainable way, with the aim of being back in profit by 2011," he said.

"Post offices will have to fit certain criteria - one being access and another one usage," he added.

This has concerned many residents in rural Herefordshire, with villagers believing that their post office could be one of those on the government hit list.

Worried people in Mordiford, Longtown and Ross have launched petitions, even though they have no official information that their local post office is to shut.

"None of the staff involved has been given any real information at all about the closures, let alone the general public," said Hereford's Conservative candidate Jesse Norman. "Everyone has been kept in the dark."

But, as Mr Hall explains, the process of selecting which post offices will close could take some time.

"Parliamentary constituencies will be broken into groups and full consultation with post offices will start in late summer and continue around the country for about 18 months," he said.

"As yet we have no timetable as to when the consultation in Herefordshire will take place."

In Mordiford, parish councillors have held a petition outside the village church in an effort to show how important their village post office is. It has also been taken to the local primary school and public house.

Resident Judith Hereford said: "Obviously we want to keep it open. If it closed, people would have to travel at least three miles to their nearest post office. If they are elderly or disabled, how are they supposed to get there?"

In the south-west of the county, the Save Longtown Post Office petition was started last month and is gathering pace with full support from local politicians, including Sarah Carr, the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary candidate for Hereford.

"We are the only party that actually has an action plan put together to save post offices from closure," she said.

"Post offices are the lifeblood of rural communities and, in Herefordshire, both Paul Keetch and myself are continuing to fight the potential closures."

Politicians are also involved in campaigns in Ross where Mr Norman has started his own petition.

The viability and uncertainly in the business has already resulted in county postmasters closing of their own accord.

Bartestree's post office closed last week with Colwall Post Office going the same way this week.

The owner at Colwall said the government's decision to close 2,500 outlets had contributed to the closure, as had the uncertainty in the business.

Belmont councillor Glenda Powell is also planning a petition tomorrow (Friday) after fears the post office on Brampton Road in Newton Farm, Hereford, will soon go the same way.