SMALL post offices around the county could be closed as part of a massive effort to shake up postal services.

The writing's been on the wall for many years, of course, but the day of destiny was hastened when Consignia - the Post Office, to those who refuse to be fooled by the brand-maker's art - decided to cut 30,000 jobs in its bid to become viable.

The effect on the two counties is uncertain at this early stage. But there'll be postmasters across the region who'll be weighing up the choice - take the money and close, or soldier on as a vital part of their community's fabric.

Dines Green postmaster Jeremy Richardson's comments are likely to be typical of the quandary, we expect.

He'd like to stay open for the sake of his customers.

"If we shut, Dines Green people would all have to travel into St John's, which is already very busy... imagine OAPs having to travel that distance."

Sadly, we can. This is the age of electronic banking, of course, and the generation for whom computers are an alien thing is slowly passing.

It's also a world ultimately driven by profit, rather than old-fashioned service.

We continue to hope that Consignia remembers that, first and foremost - like most British institutions - a post office's place and future depends on the size of a community's heart, not the final customer sending a line past the key point on an accountant's graph.

It is, like most things, the difference between cost and value, something we forget at our peril.