RURAL post offices in Worcestershire will struggle to survive and village shops may be lost as a result of the Government's proposed withdrawal of the Post Office Card Account.

The change, planned for 2010, will especially hit elderly people, who gave up their pension books reluctantly to learn how to use the new card-and-pin system.

Up to four million pensioners a week use the account, which generates £200m for the Post Office annually.

"Ninety-eight per cent of my customers who used to have pension books have changed over to the Post Office Card Account," said Alfrick postmistress Sandy Clarke. "Now they are concerned everything is going to change again.

"We have done the groundwork in teaching them how to use card-and-pin, so the transition to banks might be a bit easier. But a lot of them don't have bank accounts and it is daunting for them to go through all that rigmarole.

"They can choose from only a limited number of banks if they want to continue drawing money at the post office."

Jackie Woodwiss, postmistress at Hanley Castle, said: "It is going to affect both us and our customers desperately."

In another village near Worcester, a postmaster who did not wish to be named, said: "Many post offices will close, because we will lose the footfall from people coming to draw pensions and benefits.

"It will also close village shops, because one relies on the other."

MPs highlighted the threat to communities in a parliamentary debate last week and the Countryside Alliance wants the Government to come up with an alternative to the POCA as soon as possible.

"Unless an alternative is developed quickly, serious damage will be done to the millions who rely on the POCA and to the future of the post office network, which can ill afford to lose the revenue," said Clare Rowson, Midlands regional director for the Alliance.