The threatened closure of Keighley’s main post office has understandably created a huge amount of anxiety and concern in the town.

Granted, with the technological advances of recent years, many of the services that could once only be obtained by queueing at a post office counter can now be accessed with the click of a mouse or a phone call.

But as a pensioners’ campaign group has rightly highlighted, there are a considerable number of people of a certain age who do not have use of a computer and still prefer to carry out their business face to face.

To them, the post office provides an essential lifeline. It is not a luxury.

Recent times have seen the closure of many rural branches, in locations including the Worth Valley, and this cannot be allowed to spread to our urban centres as well.

Taking away such an integral part of a busy community threatens to rip out part of its heart and its lifeblood.

Post Office bosses have our sympathy when they say the Keighley premises cannot continue as they are making such a big loss.

But surely the answer is not to hive off the branch to some other retailer, with the inevitable deterioration in services that would result.

Other options must be examined to boost its viability and protect the service needed by the public.