Pay cuts could lead to the closure of one in three post offices, warns the National Federation of Subpostmasters.
Federation general secretary Fred Thomson has written to Donald Brydon, chairman of Post Office Limited, which pays subpostmasters a fixed income, to protest against the cuts.
Referring to them as 'totally unacceptable', Thomson said that thousands of subpostmasters were struggling to continue to provide a post office service in their local communities and were feeling totally abandoned by the Royal Mail Group.
Post Office Limited pays subpostmasters, who are self-employed, a core tier payment of at least £10,000 a year.
According to Thomson, this could be reduced by an average of £100 a month, or £1,200 a year, which, coupled with a rise in utility bills, could force one-third of the UK's 9,000 post offices to close.
A Post Office Limited spokesman said subpostmasters were awarded an average 5% pay rise last year, and claimed that the organisation had done all it could to ensure the best possible deal for them.