A TORY MP is spearheading a campaign to make sure post offices keep a card account allowing customers to collect benefits, tax credits and state pensions over the counter.

MP Mark Francois has received about 600 postcards from angry constituents who want to save the Post Office Card Account.

The account, which is being reviewed by the Government in 2010, allows people to collect their benefits over the counter and is particularly favoured by pensioners.

Mr Francois, MP for Rayleigh, is about to send the replies to the Government to show the strength of feeling on the issue.

He said: “I have never had such representation as this on any other subject since I was first elected to Parliament in 2001. The postcards are still coming in.

“I will wait until the end of July and then send all of the postcards to Gordon Brown, so he knows how strongly my constituents feel about protecting their remaining post offices.”

The account, created in 2003, generates around 124 million transactions per year and is used by 4.3 million customers, of which more than half are pensioners.

Mr Francois added that if post offices were to lose this account, it would make the pressure on remaining branches to stay open even greater.

Rita Weiss, chairman of the Southend and District Pensioners’ Campaign, said: “People like to come in with their pension books and collect their pension over the counter and speak to people in the queue.

“It’s an important form of community linking for people who can’t get out of their homes much. I think the whole situation with the post offices is very sad. Not enough thought has gone into these changes.”

Royal Mail spokesman Jane Warriner said: “The Post Office introduced the account on behalf of the Government, which has confirmed that the Card Account contract will run until 2010.

“The Post Office has submitted its tender for the chance to offer the successor to the card account to its customers. It would be inappropriate to comment at this stage as the tendering process is ongoing.”