Post office bosses have confirmed they will shut three branches despite receiving more than 3,000 letters of support from customers of the stores.

Offices in Whitton Road, Hounslow, South Street, Isleworth, and Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, will close from next month along with 152 others across the capital to stem weekly losses of £3million.

Just seven stores proposed for closure have been saved following a six-week consultation, which elicited 27,600 responses, and the fate of another seven stores hangs in the balance pending a further review.

Pat Collins, 64, lives a few doors away from the Whitton Street branch and collected more than 1,000 letters and signatures as part of the campaign to save it.

He said the decision would hit older residents hard and have a knock-on effect on other shops in the parade.

And he claimed Labour MP Ann Keen, who voted in favour of the nationwide closures despite supporting all three branches in her constituency, would face a backlash at the polls.

Cllr Paul Fisher, who led the campaign to save Old Isleworth Post Office, branded the decision to close it 'disgraceful'.

Shopkeepers the length of South Street, fearing the closure would be another nail in the coffin for small businesses, collected a petition with more than 2,000 names between them.

Cllr Fisher is now pressing Hounslow Council to either copy Essex County Council and save the branches by buying them out or to offer shopkeepers a rebate on business rates.

Peter Thompson, Leader of the London Borough to Hounslow, said the 'disastrous decision' to close all three stores meant thousands of people would be deprived of a 'vital amenity'. He said: "Whilst this decision is final, as a council we will be looking into all options available to us."

For the full story see this week's Chronicle  - out on Thursday