You can while away an entire lunch hour in there.

It's so busy, the queue moves slower than snail's pace. And the only way to keep your cool is to forget about the cheese and pickle sandwich waiting back at your desk and go with the slow. I mean, flow.

On your progression from 15th in line to 13th, you can at least peruse the magazine covers. Scan the lurid, "I shot my lesbian lover granny" headlines of the Bellas and Bests and Take a Breaks, guess which latest ten-bob has-beens are gracing the pages of Hello and try not to let anyone see you glancing upwards to the top shelf (I'm amazed any of those nuddie mags are still in existence in this era of internet porn).

From 13th to 11th, you can while away the time by having a good rummage through the Good Luck and In Deepest Sympathy cards. And make the most of it because once you get beyond that you're hemmed into a zigzagging cattle pen with nothing but the dandruffed shoulders of your fellow queuers and a poster urging you to snap up a Post Office credit card to gaze at. All that, and you just wanted was to send your Ebay parcel registered.

But what on earth is going to happen if the Government axe-weilders have their way and scores of our friendly little district post offices get the chop?

The service is far from first class as it is. Close down 53 local post offices and the pressure on the ones earmarked to stay open is going to be colossal.

But losing your lunchbreak for the sake of taxing your car, or driving to one a few miles away, is the easy part.

If you're a frail and elderly lady and you can't walk far, what the heck are you supposed to do? Countless people rely on their local post offices. It's where they go to pick up their pensions and benefit cash.

Are they supposed to spend a huge chunk of their money on taxis there and back?

And that's not the only thing they go for. To some of those customers, the chat in the queue and the friendly face at the counter are the first enjoyed for days.

Little post offices are heatbeats of the community - and they provide a vital public service.

We have to fight to keep them.

What do you think? Add your comment below.

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