The Post Office is to close and franchise 37 Crown offices, axing 300 staff as well as 127 specialist roles, the Communication Workers Union has said.

There are currently around 11,500 post office branches across the UK, of which 300 are directly managed by the Post Office and known as Crown offices. These are larger branches, commonly found on high streets. Around 13 per cent will now be closed and replaced with smaller outlets inside other retailers.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, said that while the Government spent Monday talking about building a “shared society”, Tuesday's announcement “shows we are reaching the point where we will have little left to share”.

“The CWU will not accept this and we will be stepping up our political and industrial campaign to fight for the future of the Post Office,” Mr Ward said.

Thousands of Post Office workers staged five days of strike action in the week before Christmas in protest over rounds of closures and a dispute over pensions.

The latest job cuts are part of the Post Office's ten-year cost-cutting plan, which includes the transfer of 61 branches to WH Smith over the next twelve months.

Roger Gale, Post Office’s sales and trade marketing director, said the company was merely seeking partners to run its branches, which would relocate inside retail stores. This is the arrangement in the “vast majority” of its 11,600 Post Office locations, Gale said, adding that the changes were necessary due to changing consumer habits and the high cost of running retail stores.

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“We will take time to identify the right partners over the coming months and all proposals will be subject to local consultation,” Mr Gale said.

“Post Office has a strong record of supporting people through change and we will be keeping affected staff fully informed as we develop our plans.”

A full list of the Crown Post Offices which will be franchised: