SOLDIERS’ families at isolated Blandford camp heard the “cruel” news their post office will definitely close, making it harder for them to send parcels to loved ones at war.

Post Office Ltd emailed the camp yesterday morning to say that despite a special review of its case, the branch will shut in February.

The camp had hoped to escape the fate of 22 Dorset branches that have been shutting since October in a cost-cutting programme.

Blandford has up to 4,000 soldiers, families and civilian workers, and Blandford town’s post office is two miles away on a single-track road.

Garrison staff officer Lt Col (Retired) Bob Brannigan said the decision had been made despite “strong representations”.

“The majority of single soldiers don’t have private cars and there’s limited public transport,” said Lt Col Brannigan.

North Dorset MP Bob Walter said: “Blandford is a very special case.

“We are also dealing with families sending parcels to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and it’s particularly cruel to know people like that won’t have easy access to postal services.”

The post office counter is run by a contractor in a shop and is particularly popular with Gurkha soldiers who want to send money home.

Lt Col Brannigan said the journey to Blandford would take 45 minutes.

“There are concerns this decision will have a considerable impact on the quality of life for a relatively isolated community,” he said, adding: “We are still going to fight this until February.”

A Post Office spokesman yesterday said they could not answer questions until they publicly announced the result of the review, which would happen “shortly, but not today”.