TWO Kent post offices are celebrating escaping a cull of 56 branches across the county - but the future hangs in the balance for two more outlets.

Hawkhurst post office and Cliffs End branch in Ramsgate had prepared themselves for closure after being included in a list of 58 branches Post Office Ltd had earmarked to be shut permanently.

The company announced today it would be closing a total of 56 Kent branches next year as part of a nationwide scheme to scrap 2,500 "surplus" branches and save millions of pounds.

However, the Ramsgate and Hawkhurst branches escaped closure after a public consultation found they were too important to their communities and there were no viable alternatives within easy reach of customers.

Subpostmistress at Hawkhurst Pat Porter said: "I got a slightly strange telephone message this morning, which I now guess was to tell me we would be staying open.

"It is really good news for the village and the customers will be happy, but otherwise we will just carry on as normal."

Laura Sandys, South Thanet Conservative parliamentary candidate, said: "It is to the credit of all the work done by the residents in Cliffs End that their post office has been saved.

"They have been very active in making representation to the Post Office about how the community would be severely affected if the post office – and as a result the shop – was closed.

"Many of them signed our petition and I thank them for their efforts."

But while some celebrated, two other Kent branches were shocked by news that they may also be shut in a fresh round of closures planned by Post Office Ltd.

A new six-week public consultation on the proposals to close both Lane End post office in Dartford and Goodnestone post office will begin on December 11.

Subpostmistress at Goodnestone and mother-of-five Joy Parkinson, 38, only recently learnt that her small branch may shut.

She said: "This is going to shock my customers. So many villagers who don’t drive use this branch, as the next one is more than two miles away and we have only three public buses a week."

Mrs Parkinson lives above the branch, which includes a small village shop, with her family and said the income from the post office was the only thing keeping her afloat.

"I am only paid to open the branch three days a week, but I am here for five and a half. The Post Office gets far more value for money out of me than from someone paid full-time.

"If it closes, I will keep running the village shop for my customers but I rely on my income from the Post Office."

Campaigners who fought to keep a post office in the village of Cliffs End have celebrated their triumph as a victory for common sense.

Cliffs End ward councillor John Kirby, who is chariman of Thanet council, has been part of the campaign to save the service from the start.

Cllr Kirby, a former postmaster in Ramsgate, said: "The decision is great news for us, although there are a lot of people in small communities across Thanet that will be hit by other closures.

"The Post Office in Cliffs End is a vital lifeline for many villagers who would have faced lots of problems if it has been shut."

North Thanet MP Roger Gale described as "uncaring and socially irresponsible" the Post Office decision to close the sub post office in Minnis Bay.

He said: "This organisation has ignored the representations made at a face-to-face meeting together with the many individual letters and parliamentary petition that was presented on behalf of residents of Minnis Bay.

"The result will mean that many elderly people will suffer further inconvenience and isolation. The entire Birchington area is now left with one postal outlet and I do not regard that as a satisfactory provision for so many people.

"It is clear that the Post Office has abandoned its remit to provide a genuine public service and that the combination of supine management and Government policy of removal of business is turning "network reinvention" into a charade.

"I shall now review the position to see if there is any other avenue of representation open to my constituents."

Thanet council leader Cllr Sandy Ezekiel said: "This is a real blow for Thanet and a huge disappointment for everyone who has campaigned so hard against these closures.

"They will devastate the communities affected and it’s vital that the Post Office now looks at how people in these areas will access their services in the future.

"It’s particularly concerning as we have low levels of car ownership in Thanet, with some areas suffering high deprivation and others that have large elderly and frail populations."

He said that despite the Cliffs End "reprieve’ it still left Thanet as "one of the worst affected parts of the county in this closure process".

Thanet South MP Steve Ladyman has welcomed the decision by the Post Office not to close Cliffs End Post Office.

He stressed: "The decision means that a much needed village resource has been saved and the village hall has a chance to prosper.

"I am grateful to everyone who responded to my survey and helped me give the Post Office the constructive feedback they needed to arrive at this decision.

"As I said at the time, crude petitions make little or no difference in this process but the detailed responses I was able to feed to the Post Office thanks to the efforts of everyone who responded to me have won the day."

Dr Ladyman said he was disappointed that two Ramsgate post ffices and the post office in Woodnesborough are still to close.

He added: "We gave the Post Office good feedback about the two Ramsgate offices but in the end I think the Post Office have decided there were good enough alternatives at St Lawrence and in the Town Centre."

"I'm also very disappointed that Woodnesborough is closing as that closure will mean real hardship for some people, especially older people, in the village.

"Perhaps it was inevitable, since the post mistress was keen to let the office go, and you have to respect her desire to move on with her life even if it will be a sad day for the village when the Office closes.

"However, I intend to write to the Post Office to see if there is any possibility of a peripatetic service attending the village.

"If there was a visiting mobile service every week that would certainly allow older people and people with difficulty using public transport to get their pension."