Over 100 Post Office branches have been deemed at risk of closure - including a number in Northern Ireland.
The move affects 1,000 jobs and the locations that have been put at risk are the 115 Crown Post Offices branches, which are located in city centres and are the only remaining sites directly owned by the Post Office. The affected locations could also be transferred to retail partners or postmasters, the Mirror is reporting.
The Post Office has 11,500 branches across the UK, the majority of which, around 9,000 branches, are run by independent postmasters.
READ MORE: Letters issued confirming convictions from Post Office IT scandal are quashed
A further 2,000 sites are operated by retailers such as WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op. The Post Office also today confirmed that hundreds of further roles are under threat at its head office.
Full list of Post Office branches at risk of closure:
Aldwych Antrim Baker Street Bangor Barnes Green Barnet Belfast City Bexhill On Sea Bideford Birmingham Bransholme Breck Road Bridlington Brixton Broadway Caernarfon Cambridge City Canning Town Chester Le Street City of London Clapham Common Cosham Cricklewood Crossgates Croydon High Street Dereham Didsbury Village Dunraven Place East Dulwich Eccles Eccleston Street Edinburgh City Furness House Glasgow Gloucester Golders Green Great Portland Street Grimsby Haddington Hampstead Harlesden Harold Hill High Holborn Houndsditch Hyde Inverness Islington Kendal Kennington Park Kensington Kettering Kilburn Kingsbury Kingsland High Street Kirkwall Knightsbridge Leigh Leighton Buzzard Liskeard London Bridge Londonderry Lower Edmonton Lupus Street Manchester Matlock Melville Road Merthyr Tydfil Milton Keynes Morecambe Morley Mount Pleasant Mutley Nailsea Newquay Newtownards Northolt Old Swan Oswestry Oxford Paddington Quay Paignton Port Talbot Portsmouth Poulton Le Fylde Prestwich Raynes Park Redditch Roman Road Romsey Rotherham Salford City Saltcoats Sheffield City South Ockendon South Shields Southall Springburn Way St Johns St Peters Street Stamford Stamford Hill Stockport Stornoway Stroud Sunderland City Teignmouth The Markets Vauxhall Bridge Road Wealdstone Westbourne Wester Hailes Windsor Worlds End Yate SodburyNigel Railton, chair of the Post Office, said the shake-up, which is subject to Government funding, would increase pay for postmasters by £250million over five years. However, a union group that represents Post Office staff called the plans "tone deaf" and "immoral" and urged them to be reconsidered.
Mr Railton said: "The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters. We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal.
"The value postmasters deliver in their communities must be reflected in their pockets, and this Transformation Plan provides a route to adding more than £250million annually to total postmaster remuneration by 2030, subject to government funding."
Dave Ward, Communication Workers Union (CWU) general secretary, said: "For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral. CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal – and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack."
The Post Office said it aims to franchise the affected branches or transfer ownership to other parties. A spokesman said: "The plan intends to create a new operating model for the business that means ensuring the Post Office has the right organisational design."
The Government has been consulted on the plans. It comes as the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted of stealing because of the defective Horizon computer system, continues this week.
Giving evidence at the inquiry, Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said "very significant changes" were needed to the Post Office business model. He said: "I think, despite the scale of this scandal, the Post Office is still an incredibly important institution in national life.
"I look at the business model of the Post Office, and I think even accounting for the changes in the core services that are provided ... there's still a whole range of services that are really important. But I don't think postmasters make sufficient remuneration from what the public want from the Post Office."
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "Post Offices are an integral part of the communities they serve and the services they provide for local people. The Government is in active discussion with Nigel Railton on his plans to put postmasters at the centre of the organisation and strengthen the Post Office network for its long-term future."
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