Loss of card account would be nail in the coffin for local Welsh post offices - Willott

12.00.00am GMT Mon 3rd Nov 2008

Commenting on rumours that the Post Office has already lost its contract to run the Post Office Card Account (POCA) but that the Government is delaying its announcement until after the Glenrothes by-election, Jenny Willott, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and MP for Cardiff Central, said:

"If these rumours prove to be true, this is the final nail in the coffin for many local post offices across Wales.

"Thanks to the locality of post offices at the heart of many Welsh communities, over 350,000 people in Wales have come to rely on the POCA as the only means of accessing their benefits.

"The department of work and pensions most vulnerable customers - the disabled, elderly or those who cannot afford to travel miles to the nearest bank - will suffer the most if they can no longer get their benefits and pensions through the Post Office.

"This is a deeply cynical u-turn by a Government who described POCA as the 'cornerstone' of the Post Office's new banking products just five years ago."