NEW Forest communities are set to lose vital post office services after managers rubber-stamped closure proposals on Wednesday.

Post offices at Ashley, New Milton, Tiptoe and Emery Down near Lyndhurst are all set to close following the results of a public consultation period last year.

And Whitsbury post office near Fordingbridge, originally planned to open for two hours a week as an outreach post, is also set to close due to its "very low customer base."

The decision to shut the village service was put down to an absence of retail in the community which meant residents had to leave the area for their wider shopping needs anyway.

The news has been met with anger by New Forest MP's.

Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, said: "In spite of the best efforts of the community, it is now quite clear that Post Office managers had no intention from the very beginning of keeping open any of the five post offices at risk of closure in New Forest East.

"The so-called consultation was an outrageous sham and farce. The impact of these closures will be felt most by those customers who are vulnerable and elderly, many of whom lack the transport to get elsewhere."

During the consultation period, residents at Tiptoe staged a protest march along dark and narrow lanes to highlight the problems that villagers would face if the post office shut.

It took them 40 minutes to walk from Tiptoe to Hordle, which is the nearest post office not listed in the closure programme.

Desmond Swayne, New Forest West MP, added: "I'm very disappointed, having made representations on my constituents behalf. The consultation was a stitch-up."

Tim Nickolls, the Post Office's development manager for Hampshire, said: "These are difficult decisions that have not been taken lightly.

"We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation "We believe that the amended plan offers our customers the best prospect for a sustainable network in the future."