POST Office Ltd has announced the closure of 22 post office branches across Oxfordshire.

The closure announcement - which was made at 10am - confirmed all 22 branches on the hit-list would close.

The closures came despite a campaign to save the branches, which included a 6,000-signature petition handed into Downing Street.

During a six-week local public consultation, Post Office Ltd received about 3,700 responses and attended 35 meetings with customers and their representatives.

The branches on the list are:

Ardington Stores, High Street, Ardington
Woodstock Road East, Begbroke
Childrey, High Street, Childrey
Park Road, Combe
The Street, Crowmarsh Gifford
The Amigo Shop, Cholswell Road, Abingdon
Oxford Road, Farmoor
Main Road, Fyfield, Abingdon
Abingdon Road, Oxford
Middleton Road, Grimsbury, Banbury
Church Way, Iffley, Oxford
Villiers Road, Bicester
High Street, Long Wittenham
Orchard Way, Banbury
Stanmore Crescent, Carterton
Middle Road, Stanton St John
Stream Road, Upton
West End, Witney
Godstow Road, Wolvercote
Wootton Road, Abingdon
Woodstock
Wytham.

The following branches will be replaced by outreach solutions. Details of how the service will be provided are still being finalised.

Horseshoe Lane, Chadlington
The Green, Enstone
Great Rollright, Chipping Norton
The Green, Great Tew
Tackley Village Shop, Medcroft Road, Tackley.

Mark Partington, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly. We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation.

"We believe that the amended plan announced today offers our customers across Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire the best prospect for a sustainable network in the future, bearing in mind the Government's minimum access criteria and the other factors it has asked us to consider."

Source: Witney Gazette