Sir - The indifference of national government to the closure of local post offices, a service universally valued by their communities, shows how far our elected representatives have become detached from the everyday concerns of their electorate.

I still grieve for the loss of the North Parade post office, and share the astonishment that there is now no post office serving Summertown. We city-dwellers, however, still have it easy compared with those in rural Oxfordshire who must travel even further to post a parcel or buy a TV licence stamp.

The service at the main post office at St Aldate's, meanwhile, is reminiscent of Soviet-era Eastern Europe. I called there recently to post a parcel to my nephew, to find the queue literally out on to the pavement and only two cashiers on duty. I'm told this is quite normal. It is not, however, acceptable.

If our local representatives can do anything to restore such a valued local service, it will be the most popular decision they have taken for decades.

Georgina Ferry, Oxford