DOZENS of protestors and Blackburn MP Jack Straw urged Post Office bosses to think again over the proposed sell-off of their town centre branch.

The MP, also leader of the House of Commons, spoke at a public meeting last night to allow staff and the public to question the decision.

Adrian Wales, sent from the company's head office in London, explained to an audience of about 40 in King George's Hall that changing services meant some branches had to be handed over to private firms to save money.

The decision has already been taken by Post Office Ltd, and is due to be implemented in October.

But Mr Straw said arguments should be taken into account before anything happens.

He told Mr Wales: "I hope that you are able to reassure us that if we come up with arguments against the proposals and they're strong enough there may be some thought about going down this road."

But Mr Wales said the changes needed to be made because of changes in the way the firm operates, including the way benefits, bills, and television licences can be paid.

Under the plans, the current post office in Ainsworth Street would remain open, but would be run by a new firm called NewsPlus (Blackburn) Ltd.

NewsPlus will be reducing the number of counters from 11 to eight, and will also introduce longer opening hours, and retail including confectionery and newspapers.

Current staff will not be laid off, but would be offered other jobs, or the chance to take redundancy, and new staff employed by NewsPlus will be trained up.

Members of the public and Post Office staff said that the pay for staff would be too low, and there should be more counters open to serve customers.

Keiran Quinn, territorial counters representative for the Communication Workers Union, praised the current staff.

He said: "Blackburn is best for sales in the whole of the North West.

"They are the staff bringing the Post Office out of its dark days and into a future where we could guarantee the network."