EAST Lancashire post office staff have reacted to Government plans which could see 2,500 branches closed across the country with caution.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling announced yesterday that the cuts were needed because of millions of pounds in losses each week, but also revealed the Government was to invest in a five-year, £1.7billion package of investment to "preserve the national network."

Rural areas are also to see 500 new outlets set up for small communities, for instance mobile services or services based in locations such as village halls or pubs.

And the Government is also set to keep the Post Office card account until 2010 and then look at finding a replacement for the card, which offers an accessible savings account for people such as the elderly, at one point looked set to be axed.

There will now be a national public consultation on the move, lasting until March 8 next year.

Locally some Post Office staff have said the move was inevitable, but others have called the planned closures "regrettable."

Peter Harrison, East Lancashire branch secretary for the National Federation of SubPostmasters, who runs Coal Clough Lane Post Office in Burnley, said: "We are quite pleased with the outcome as far as the Post Office card account is concerned but the 2,500 closures is regrettable.

"We accept that has got to happen in order to make the network viable. We are not certain which ones are likely to go." But Fazal Shaikh, post master at the Albert Road, Colne, branch, said: "They are a vital part of the community but things have to be changed."

In his announcement, Alistair Darling said Post Offices face a long-term challenge thanks to modern services.

Andy Tatchell, of the Communication Workers' Union in Lancashire, said: "I am glad there is to be a national consultation which will presumably be a consultation on the shape of the network as a whole.

"That needs to take place. We do worry about rural communities having their heart plucked.