Mr Wood said he felt there were strong arguments for keeping the post offices at Soothill and Bradford Road open and was hoping local residents would get behind the campaigns.

"We have not had the level of closures other areas have seen up to now," said Mr Wood. "This is because local postmasters and I have worked together to protect the local network.

"However, this latest round is not about voluntary closures it is about targeting the less viable post offices in the network – those that serve the fewest customers each week, that are the least profitable and that are in areas where there is an alternative branch.

"But the post offices at Soothill and Bradford Road in Batley are valuable branches that serve distinct communities and I hope residents will join me in a bid to save them.

"By working together over the last 10 years we have managed to keep our network reasonably intact. We now face a different kind of battle but if we continue working together we can make the best case possible to maintain these amenities."

The meeting is at Soothill Community Centre, Broomsdale Road, at 6.30pm tonight.