Post Office could close 115 branches across the UK putting hundreds of jobs at risk

The plans have been labelled 'immoral' and 'tone deaf'

The closures would affect the Post Office's wholly-owned branches, which employ some 1,000 workers and are loss-making.

The Post Office also confirmed hundreds of jobs at its head office were also under threat.

Of the Post Office's 11,500 branches, around 9,000 are run by independent postmasters. Another 2,000 are operated by retailers such as WHSmith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op.

The branches under threat of closure are the 115 Crown Post Offices. These are usually located in city centres and are staffed by Post Office employees.

It is looking at other options for the branches other than closures, including alternative franchise arrangements where retailers, such as WHSmith, or another third party could take them on.

The strategic review is designed to fundamentally change how the organisation operates and put the business on a firmer financial footing, the BBC reports.

Post Office chairman Nigel Railton, who led the review, said the shake-up would increase pay for postmasters by £250million over five years.

Railton said: “The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters. We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal.

“The value postmasters deliver in their communities must be reflected in their pockets, and this Transformation Plan provides a route to adding more than £250million annually to total postmaster remuneration by 2030, subject to government funding."

However, the news of potential closures and job losses has been slammed by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which labelled the plans were "immoral" and "tone deaf" in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral. CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal – and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack.”

A combination of a rise in online shopping and a decline in people sending letters has caused the Post Office to struggle in recent years.

The organisation also remains the subject of a long-running inquiry into the Horizon scandal, when hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted of stealing from the company between 1999 and 2015.

In fact, it was faulty computer software which made it appear money was missing from their accounts.

The public inquiry into the scandal is in its final week of evidence, more than two-and-a-half years after public hearing started.