A PUBLIC sector forum is to call on the Post Office to release business reports on all of the branches in Suffolk which are threatened or have already been closed.

A PUBLIC sector forum is to call on the Post Office to release business reports on all of the branches in Suffolk which are threatened or have already been closed.

The move, under the Freedom of Information Act, is being made by the Suffolk Accountable Bodies Group (ABG) which is still to be convinced that the businesses - considered an important part of the social fabric of the county - are economically unviable.

The current closure programme involves 16 post offices in west Suffolk. The previous programme led to the closure of 34 in the east and south of the county, some of them being replaced with part-time outreach services.

The ABG is a strategic decision-making body set up by the Government, comprising the leaders of local authorities and organisations such as Suffolk Primary Care Trust, Suffolk Police Authority and Suffolk Development Agency.

Chairman, Tim Passmore, said: “We want to see the evidence behind the decision-making process and we have included those post offices already closed because it may be possible to get them re-opened.

Mr Passmore, who is also leader of Mid Suffolk District Council, said post offices were more than straightforward businesses, having social importance for many people, including the elderly and disadvantaged.