POST Office chiefs have defended plans for wide-ranging closures of post offices in Kent, saying doing nothing to stem million pound losses is not an option.

County councillors grilled company representatives on Monday about their plans at a meeting of KCC’s Conservative cabinet as it emerged an announcement on which post offices could be affected, which was due this week, has been delayed until next month.

KCC is spearheading a campaign aimed at limiting the impact of closures and is urging people to sign an online petition to show their support for the postal network. The county will be one of the first to learn how it will be affected by a national review that could mean nearly 60 of Kent’s 309 post offices closing.

However, postal chiefs offered few crumbs of comfort as they were quizzed about the plans although they did promise to consider if more time should be allowed for consultation.

They also angrily denied a suggestion they had "bought off" sub post masters and done deals behind closed doors.

Gary Herbert, Network Development Manager, said: "We face the real risk of unplanned and uncontrolled change. There are 1,600 post offices nationally that serve less than 20 people a week and in some branches, each transaction is costing the taxpayer £17. Sub postmasters are finding it very difficult to make a living."

The review would bring "stability" to the post office network and a government grant of £1.7billion would restore the network’s profitibility by 2011, he added.

Asked why only six weeks was being allowed for consultation, he said: "We have been given the government’s time scale. It has set the agenda for us. The sooner we can move through this and the quicker it is implemented, the less time customers have to worry about how long closures will take."

Council leader Cllr Paul Carter (Con) urged the Post Office to be more open.

"We must have openness and transparency in the way this consultation is carried out," he said.

But the KCC opposition Labour group said KCC’s campaign was unhelpful. Cllr Roger Truelove, shadow cabinet member for regeneration, said: "Naturally we are concerned about the impact of closures but we are not prepared to condemn a process before we know the details."

KCC has set up a website about the post office review along with an online petition. It is at www.kent.gov.uk/postoffice

Meanwhile, a Kent Conservative MP has accused the Post Office of embarking on a review that could lead to "Dr Beeching" style closures - a reference to the decimation of 2,000 stations and railway lines in the 1960s.

Conservative Michael Fallon, who also spoke at KCC’s cabinet meeting, said: "What is clear is that what we face is one of the biggest single impacts on village life since the war and certainly worse than the Beeching railway cuts."

He added: "We should not measure this in profit and loss terms. This is a public service and we are entitled to ask questions about the other economic impacts. This programme will be socially damaging. The Post Office is the last remaining community facility and the beating heart of many villages."