Communities across the Braintree and Witham district are united in protest over Government plans which they say threaten the survival of the village post office.

Petitions are being signed in post offices throughout the area, as customers voice their fears of the loss of what they see as a vital service.

Under Government plans, to be introduced over a two-year period from 2003, benefit payments, including old age pensions and child benefit, will switch to direct payment into claimants' bank accounts.

The National Federation of Sub-postmasters believes that nearly 8,000 post offices and 30,000 jobs across the country could be lost in the move.

At Coggeshall, which has had a post office for over a century, postmasters Caron and Steve Sheffield have collected a 1,000-name petition opposing the move.

Mrs Sheffield said: "This change will be disastrous for us, we would lose most of our over-the-counter work.

"Our business could quickly become unviable. People are generally very angry. At the moment we don't know what will happen, but it's all very worrying."

The changes will particularly penalise pensioners and people on benefits, she added.

The Sheffields' campaign has the full backing of the parish council.

Clerk David Warren said: "We are particularly worried about pensioners, a lot of whom haven't got bank accounts.

"This would be a terrible loss to Coggeshall, we are prepared to protest long and hard about this."

District councillor Emma Jones appealed to MP Alan Hurst to help stop the changes.

"I will certainly be doing what I can. The post office is vital for so many people, if it were to close it would be disastrous for Coggeshall. This is a focal point for the whole community."

At Kelvedon, June Musson has just taken over the business.

"I am obviously very concerned," she said. Mrs Musson said she will be looking at ways to help customers open post office bank accounts.

MP Alan Hurst said he is hoping to speak when the matter is discussed in the House of Commons shortly.

Training and support for post offices must be extended to increase the range of services they offer, he stressed.

"We need to increase the services in rural areas, not diminish them," he said. "We must keep post offices in villages."

Coggeshall sub-postmistress, Caron Sheffield, with clerk to the council, David Warren with the petition.

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