Closing post offices in Stockbridge and Highfield could lead to an average of 200 extra customers a day having to use the Keighley town centre branch, according to the local MP.

The two outlets are among four in Keighley and South Craven under threat due to planned national cutbacks. The others are in Farnhill and East Morton.

Ann Cryer, who met Post Office Ltd representatives last Thursday urged them to upgrade postal facilities in the town centre to cope with the anticipated influx of customers.

She said she understood why branches, which were no longer economically viable, might have to close.

But she pointed out that the post offices in Bradford Road, Stockbridge, and Belgrave Road, Highfield, each handled about 1,000 customer transactions per week. She said it was unacceptable for Keighley's Towngate branch to absorb increased use by demanding its customers wait in even longer queues.

The consultation period for people to give their reaction to the cutbacks has now ended. The Post Office has said it will make a final announcement on closures sometime next month, after considering public feedback.

Meanwhile, the proposals to axe the part-time post office in Farnhill are facing resistance from North Yorkshire County Council.

The facility currently operates from the Farnhill Institute building, in Main Street. In an official reaction to the public consultation programme, the council has urged the Post Office to consider alternatives to scrapping supposedly "non-profitable" outlets.

Councillor Shelagh Marshall, who has helped co-ordinate the county's resp-onse to the plans, said the Post Office needed to consider very carefully the arguments made by the authority.