The Post Office has been rattled by the Horizon IT scandal as well as shaky finances (Picture: Getty Images)
The Post Office has been rattled by the Horizon IT scandal as well as shaky finances (Picture: Getty Images)

The Post Office has announced that 115 branches are at risk of closure and 1,000 staff will lose their jobs.

There are roughly 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK – 115 are ‘wholly-owned’ by the company while the rest operate out of partners like WHSmith or Tesco.

But the Post Office says it will shut or franchise all of its wholly-owned branches as the company tries to balance the books.

Hundreds of head office jobs are also on the line.

The Post Office has been gutting its wholly-owned branches, known as crown post offices, for years. In 2012, there were almost 400.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said to slash so many jobs and post offices amid the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal is ‘immoral’ and ‘tone deaf’ at best.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the union, said: ‘We call on the Post Office to immediately halt these planned closures.’

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