A FURTHER seven post offices could be axed in Bolton, under government cuts, the town's Conservative party has predicted.

The Tories say they expect the closures over the next two years, following an announcement by the government last month that it is to cut the number of post offices by an expected 2,500 across the country.

But the Tory prediction was described as "unrealistic" by a Bolton Labour MP.

Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Bolton North-east, Deborah Dunleavy, said she had "grave concerns" about the round of cuts.

The closures follow the shutting of 4,000 Post Offices in the past seven years She said the closures, which will start next summer, could potentially mean the closure of two post offices in Bolton North-east.

According to Conservative projections, three would also be cut in Bolton South-east and a further two in Bolton West.

The Conservatives prediction of seven post offices closing in Bolton is based on the national closures being spread equally across all parliamentary constituencies.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling said the cuts were needed because losses of £4 million were being recorded every week - twice as much as the previous year.

Mrs Dunleavy said: "Post offices are the lifeblood of Bolton's community.

"But their future is now under real threat. These cuts will hit the vulnerable and the elderly the hardest.

"Labour Ministers need to recognise that if the local post office closes, often the last shop in the vicinity closes as well, and a van for a couple of hours a week is no replacement for a Post Office open full time."

Conservatives have called for sub-post offices to be given greater freedoms to offer a range of commercial products and are pushing for more post offices to be one stop shops for central government services.

However, the Conservative post office closure figures have been rubbished by the Labour MP for Bolton North-east, David Crausby.

He said: "I think this is a very crude and unrealistic way to do the figures and what it demonstrates is that the Conservatives are really more interested in political gain instead of serving post offices.

"I think we have got to look after those post offices that are serving the community and my concern is more with customers than with post masters."

He added: "My view is that people are entitled to make a living but the Government has to think very carefully about how it spends public money."