THE Bishop of Blackburn has slammed the decision to earmark 24 East Lancashire post offices for closure.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Reade believes the post offices should be offered a "lifeline of compassion" in a bid to preserve the "vital work" they do for rural and isolated communities.

Post Office this week revealed the raft of proposed closures in a bid to claw back losses of £4million-a-week.

There will be a six-week consultation before the move is ratified.

Many of the East Lancashire post offices affected are in rural villages.

Rt Rev Reade, who represents the Blackburn Diocese covering the whole of Lancashire, said he hoped it was a genuine consultation that involved the threatened communities.

He said: "It is not good enough for the Post Office simply to look at balance sheets and ignore social needs in often vulnerable rural and urban communities and subject them to further damaging closures.

"It is vital that this review process is a genuine consultation, not just a cosmetic public relations exercise to rubber-stamp business plans.

"I would appeal to the Post Office to throw a lifeline of compassion to these communities it is supposed to serve.

"Post offices are often vital focal points, like our churches, where people meet, exchange information and provide help and communication. They provide an essential social, as well as business, need."

The bishop's diocesan rural officer Tim Horobin said there were anxieties across the county where post offices were under review.

He said: "Will it be truly neutral and will they listen to the needs of the communities? I have just been talking to one parish council with strong links to their local post office and they knew nothing about it.

"For the Post Office simply to sacrifice its social obligations on the altar of board-room pragmatism is morally and socially inadequate. "