A POST OFFICE closure has been branded “an attack on our community” by local politicians.

This week The Post Office revealed it will be closing 37 of its flagship Crown offices, including the George Lane branch in South Woodford.

MP for Chingford and Woodford Green Iain Duncan Smith has said he was not consulted on the closure and has promised to oppose it at all costs.

He said: “We have already lost too many Post offices. The Post Office provides a vital service, particularly for the elderly residents in the area.”

Mr Duncan Smith is also planning to meet with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to see how the fight to keep South Woodford’s Post Office open can move forward.

Liberal Democrat Cllr for Roding Gwyneth Deakins said that after Royal Mail’s decision to move its sorting office from Marlborough Road to Chingford, she feels South Woodford is “under attack”.

She said: “I am very angry and dismayed.

“I am going to write to The Post Office’s chief executive to ask why they have chosen to close South Woodford when it is so well used all year round.

“I support any effort to get this decision reversed.”

Cllr Deakins also expressed concerns that should The Post Office be franchised out, there are very few shops big enough to do so in South Woodford.

Her Labour colleague in Roding Cllr Lloyd Duddridge added: “I think this shows what privitisation actually means in reality.

“Politicians often talk in very abstract terms about these things, but this is what it means – profit coming before people.

“It’s really sad as The Post Office is a real focal point in our high street.”

He added he plans to meet with the South Woodford Society and if the “MP can meet with unions and councillors meet with residents, maybe we can actually get a result on this.”

The Post Office has been contacted for comment.