And the anger among residents was plain to see, with speaker after speaker voicing their grave concerns about the impact the closure will have on village life.

"This post office is unique," said Coun Julia Pears, the villages' representative on Lincolnshire County Council, who was chairing the public meeting.

"It is the main focal point for the village – it does much more than just post letters."

A number of people spoke passionately about how the closure could lead to 'the death of the village', with one of the organisers – Glenys Smith – giving a long list of shops that had once existed in the area.

The post office, she said, was all that now remained.

"Our village will die if this closure goes ahead," she told the meeting. "We need our post office."

Other residents listed the many different benefits the facility brings to the area, such as offering a cashpoint, somewhere to draw pensions, and as a meeting place for all village life.

Village newcomer Sue Charlton said: "We moved to the village a year ago, and the help we got from Vicky at the post office was quite unbelievable.

"She even did things like send us a letter with a list of useful phone numbers for the area – you don't get that anywhere these days. She was just so helpful."

A letter was also read out from the practice manager of Stickney Surgery, Christine Morgan, expressing concern at the closure, as the post office is where many of her patients collect their prescriptions.

The meeting was told that a village petition has already attracted more than 400 signatures, and everyone was encouraged to write letters of protest to the Post Office headquarters about the plan. Plans were also made to get local MPs involved in the battle.

l The consultation into the post office closure ends on November 12. Write to: Adrian Wales, Network Development Manager, c/o National Consultation Team, Freepost Consultation Team, Freepost Consultation Team, call 08457 223344 or email consultation@postoffice.co.uk