DEADLINE day is looming for people desperate to save 12 Hampshire post offices facing the axe.

The consultation period into the proposals run by Post Office watchdog Postwatch will end tomorrow.

Residents can make their opposition heard by phone, post or e-mail and Postwatch bosses say it is crucial that their views are heard.

Ten post offices across Southampton face closure as part of a Post Office cost-cutting scheme that aims to improve the profits of remaining branches.

Residents, MPs, local councillors and campaigners for the elderly have all condemned the plans, saying that vital community services are being stripped away.

Richard Effeny, chairman of the Bitterne Park Triangle traders' association, has been campaigning against the closures - which include the Bitterne Park Triangle branch.

He said: "I would encourage everybody who uses post offices and would be affected by the closures to get their letters in by Friday.

"Without their support we won't have any chance of keeping these facilities in the city."

Gary Hepburn at Postwatch said people were not fighting a losing battle. Postwatch bosses will gather people's opinions before deciding whether they will make official complaints to Post Office chiefs.

He said: "We want to know why the proposals don't make sense and how people will be affected. For example, we would want to hear about cases where remaining post offices don't have disabled access and the ones that may close do.

"We want to hear about post offices where there are already queues outside, people are waiting outside in the rain, and a closure will only put more pressure on the remaining offices.

"For us to consider this properly we need to hear from people and it may be only one snippet of information in their letter that makes us think that a closure may be worth opposing."

Contact Postwatch by phone on 0845 6013265, by e-mail to info@postwatch.co.uk or by post to Freepost, Postwatch.

HAMPSHIRE POST OFFICES FACING AXE:

Bitterne Park Triangle branch, Manor Farm Road, Southampton

Merry Oak branch, Manor Road, Southampton

Sholing branch, South East Road, Southampton

Spring Road branch, Spring Road, Southampton

Station Road branch, Station Road, Southampton

Wide Lane branch, Westfield Corner, Wide Lane, Southampton

Freemantle branch, Park Road, Southampton

Shirley branch, Shirley Road, Southampton

Upper Shirley branch, 64 Wilton Road, Southampton

Wimpson branch, Wimpson Lane, Southampton

Morn Hill branch, Winchester

Passfield Avenue branch, Eastleigh