David Ruffley MP has expressed his shock and anger at the decision by Post Office Ltd to go ahead with all the proposed post office closures in his Bury St Edmunds constituency.

The following sub-post office branches will close: Combs Ford and Crown Street in Stowmarket, Fornham All Saints, Gislingham, Great Ashfield, Old Newton, Wattisfield and Wattisham Airfield. A post office outreach service point is to be set up at venues in Gislingham and Wattisham Airfield.

David said: 'This is a devastating decision for rural Suffolk. Campaigners have worked really hard to challenge Post Office Ltd on their closure proposals and have put together excellent cases against these closures. I share my constituents' shock and anger that the arguments they put forward appear to have been ignored.

'I know how strongly my constituents feel about their local post office from the response to the petition I launched last autumn in support of local post offices. It attracted 7,000 signatures- the biggest response I have ever received to a campaign.

'It is hugely disappointing that we will lose some of the best post offices in Suffolk where the postmasters and postmistresses provide so much more than just postal services. It will be a particularly devastating blow for elderly and disabled people and those without transport who rely on their local post office.

'These post office closures will rip the heart out of local communities which need more local services, not fewer. It is yet another attack on rural East Anglia and, indeed, rural England.

'I will be studying the decision document very closely to see if any of these decisions can be challenged.'