A GOVERNMENT U-turn which will protect rural Post Offices has been welcomed by Exmoor farming entrepreneur and political campaigner James Wright.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has now pledged to protect the national network of more than 11,500 Post Office branches, reversing a policy which could have seen many of them close.

More than 180,000 people signed a petition calling for their local Post Offices to be saved.

Mr Wright, chairman of the Conservative South West Rural Forum, said the campaign centred on the belief that Post Offices were the ‘social fabric’ of many communities and played a vital role in providing postal, retail, and, increasingly, essential banking services to those left behind by traditional bank branch closures.

He said: “This is a victory for everybody who relies on their Post Office.

“For too long, our rural communities and high streets have watched their essential services disappear.

“By protecting these 11,500 branches, we are not just saving an important lifeline, we are saving our local economies.

“The Government’s original plan to scrap the minimum branch requirement was a death sentence for the ‘last shop’ in many villages.

“While we welcome the modernisation and the long-overdue removal of the Horizon system, our focus now shifts to ensuring this funding reaches the frontline postmasters who have kept this country.”

West Somerset has been particularly acutely affected by Post Office branch and outreach service closures in the past five years, with the loss of those in Watchet, Alcombe, Carhampton, Exford, Allerford, Lydeard St Lawrence, Winsford, and Kilve, while Nether Stowey’s has been put up for sale and a question mark hangs over the future of the Minehead branch with a proposed redevelopment of the site.

The Government had been proposing to abandon a long-standing ‘minimum branch requirement’ for the network, but now the new rules will mean more than half of all branches will be required to operate on a full-time basis to ensure service consistency for customers.

Post Office Minister Blair McDougall said the Government was providing up to £180 million in subsidy over the next three years to safeguard access to essential services and committing £483 million over the next two years to modernise Post Office operations.

Mr McDougall said consultation had shown clearly the Post Office meant different things to different people.

He said: “For some, it is a cornerstone of community life, for others, it is simply the most convenient place to collect a parcel.

“This diversity of purpose is not a contradiction but the model working as intended.

“The Post Office is neither a purely commercial organisation nor solely a social enterprise.

“Its strength lies in successfully balancing both roles by delivering essential services to communities while continuing to adapt to consumer trends to ensure it is not left behind.

“Our ambition is clear, to protect the Post Office’s social purpose and set it up for success in the years ahead, ensuring a thriving network of Post Offices making everyday life easier for communities across the UK.”