POST OFFICE bosses planning to close a string of sub-post offices in Ryedale received a blunt message at a packed public meeting at Ryedale House: "Go back and think again!"

At the end of the lively three-hour meeting on Monday night, calls were made for North Yorkshire County Council to explore the possibility of a judicial review in the High Court in a bid to overturn the closure plans.

Before the start of the meeting, Gazette & Herald reporter Lynn Brown handed in a petition, containing more than 700 signatures to officers of the Post Office as part the paper's campaign to save postal services in Ryedale.

One of the leading anti-closure campaigners, County Coun Clare Wood, said: "I think the idea of a judicial review is an extremely good one and I will pursue it."

Earlier Coun Wood, whose Sheriff Hutton and Hovingham ward will see just two out of the 37 villages she represents with a post office if the cuts go-ahead, said: "This Government does not understand rural communities."

Councillors worked hard to keep the communities they represent viable yet the Post Office would "wipe out" a valued service with the closures.

Residents in one of her villages faced a 14-mile round trip to get to their nearest post office.

"I am particularly concerned because so many post offices are linked to village shops for their survival. The Post Office should listen to us," she said, to loud applause.

Norton and Malton town councillor, and Norton's representative at County Hall, David Lloyd-Williams, said the twin towns needed their offices because of the large number of homes, around 1,500, planned to be built in the next few years.

Norton was set to lose its Church Street post office which would put increased pressure on the already stretched Malton post office, and on the edge-of-town office in Beverley Road, Norton.

"We need to keep our services for future generations," he added.

Coun Ron Haigh said that by next year a third of the post office network would be lost nationally. People living in remote villages in his Wolds ward faced a long journey to Malton to collect undelivered mail.

Several villagers and councillors asked what outreach services would be provided if branch office closures went ahead and heard that a mobile post office, similar to the county library service, was a possibility, visiting villages for a few hours a week, but it was an arrangement which would be subject to review after a year.

Nick Turner, external relations manager for the Post Office, said that as part of a Government plan to make the post office network sustainable by 2011, around 2,500 needed to close.

"The Post Office is losing £3.5 million a week and losing millions of customers," he said, adding that it was due to increasing online competition and pensions being paid direct into bank accounts.

Mr Turner said that changes would be made to the closure plans "if we have got things wrong". He added that 80 per cent of the country's population would be unaffected by the closure plan, but the remaining 20 per cent would be hit hard.

Eight out of 10 pensioners now had their pensions paid into a bank account, said Mr Turner. No final decision had yet been made on the outreach proposals, he added.

Hilary Putman, of Postwatch, the watchdog for postal services, said she would be taking back to the leaders of the organisation the strength of the anger in Ryedale over the closure plans, because of the rural nature of the district and the hardship which would be caused to many people living in remote villages.

Coun Robert Wainwright said offices at Terrington and Slingsby in his ward, earmarked for closure, were busy businesses and urged the Post Office to publish "footfall" figures to prove their success.

Coun Gaynor de Barr, mayor of Kirkbymoorside and chairman of the Yorkshire Local Councils' Association, said access to alternative post offices, lack of public transport and the impact on local communities if closures went ahead had to be major concerns when decisions were finally made.

"There appears to have been a gross negligence in assessing the impact of these closures on Ryedale communities," she said.

Protesters pointed out that if the closure plan goes ahead, there will be no post office between Malton and Helmsley or between Thirsk and Helmsley.

The meeting heard that in the first tranche of closures, involving 230 sub-post offices, only 10 had won reprieves.

Closure date for public consultation is tomorrow (Thursday).

The meeting, called by North Yorkshire County Council and Ryedale District Council, was chaired by Janet Waggott, Ryedale District Council's chief executive.

* Post Offices proposed for full closure are Church Street, Norton and Wass. Those due to be replaced by outreach facilities are: Allerston, Sherburn, Hawnby, Weaverthorpe, West Heslerton, Huttons Ambo, Nunnington, Slingsby, Terrington and Foxholes.