Mail order firms expect to be the most affected, if the plans to close 2,500 offices across the country are given the go-ahead.

Explaining how the planned closure could hit his enterprise, Mike Burgess, tells the Exeter Express and Echo: ‘We rely heavily on getting the packages out.

‘It’s just an added frustration when you have to make your way into town rather than go to somewhere on your doorstep. It’s more expensive and time-consuming.’

He adds: ‘Post offices are businesses in their own right as well, so if the postal service side is taken away, the shop could not be run in isolation.

‘Post office closures have a knock-on effect.’

Meanwhile, the Federation of Small Businesses have has urged the government to keep some of the post offices open on a part-time basis to ease the expected strain on SMEs.