This often means the current office will close and the services move into a nearby newsagent.

Terry Pullinger, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: “Tragically, this is yet another horrendous example of broken promises, irresponsible government and chronic mismanagement by the Post Office.

“The Post Office should never have been split from Royal Mail – natural synergies and public services have been sacrificed for greed and profit.”

CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey added: “This is devastating news for our members.

“It is death by a thousand cuts.

“The proposals disregard the wealth of expertise, experience and sense of pride in public duty which is shared by Crown post office employees.”

Roger Gale, Post Office’s General Manager of the Crown network, said: “In some locations, directly-run Crown Post Office branches work well but in others there are alternatives, such as franchising, which can work better for the business and its customers, not just in terms of access to Post Office services but also in relation to long term viability.

“We need to continue to make changes to strengthen the Crown network and we have today announced that we are seeking suitable potential retail partners to work with us on providing franchised services for 39 branches and we are proposing to close three branches in areas where it is no longer viable to keep a Crown branch. ”