Mike Wood was among 20 Labour MPs who voted in favour of a Tory proposal to halt the closure programme.

The government announced last year it would shut 2,500 branches across the country in order to make up for the losses being suffered by Post Office Ltd.

Last week the Conservatives put forward their proposal in the House of Commons but it was defeated by 288 votes to 268.

Mr Wood has opposed the government's plans since they were first being discussed more than three years ago.

He has been campaigning alongside sub-postmasters across Batley, Birstall and Spenborough to ensure the closures are kept to a minimum in this area.

He said: "Protecting the post office network in Batley and Spen has been one of my key campaigns over the last 10 years.

"I have worked closely with local sub-postmasters to limit the threat to the network locally which is why closures have been kept to voluntary closures and we have seen fewer closures compared with other areas. I hope we can continue to do this.

"So far, this work and co-operation has paid off but that's because it has been a sustained campaign, not a passing bandwagon rolled out just before elections by people who have made no constructive input into protecting local post offices."

The revolt by the Labour backbenchers was embarrassing for the government, which as a result defeated the motion only by a majority of 20.

Before the votes were cast a number of MPs from all three main parties condemned the closures.

But prime minister Gordon Brown defended the cuts as necessary because Post Office Ltd is losing £500,000 a day.