POST Office Ltd has announced the closure of 22 post office branches across Oxfordshire.

The closure announcement - which was made at 10am - confirmed all 22 branches on the hit-list would close.

The closures came despite a campaign to save the branches, which included a 6,000-signature petition handed into Downing Street.

During a six-week local public consultation, Post Office Ltd received about 3,700 responses and attended 35 meetings with customers and their representatives.

The branches on the list are:

Ardington Stores, High Street, Ardington

Woodstock Road East, Begbroke

Childrey, High Street, Childrey

Park Road, Combe

The Street, Crowmarsh Gifford

The Amigo Shop, Cholswell Road, Abingdon

Oxford Road, Farmoor

Main Road, Fyfield, Abingdon

Abingdon Road, Oxford

Middleton Road, Grimsbury, Banbury

Church Way, Iffley, Oxford

Villiers Road, Bicester

High Street, Long Wittenham

Orchard Way, Banbury

Stanmore Crescent, Carterton

Middle Road, Stanton St John

Stream Road, Upton

West End, Witney

Godstow Road, Wolvercote

Wootton Road, Abingdon

Woodstock

Wytham.

The following branches will be replaced by outreach solutions. Details of how the service will be provided are still being finalised.

  • Horseshoe Lane, Chadlington
  • The Green, Enstone
  • Great Rollright, Chipping Norton
  • The Green, Great Tew
  • Tackley Village Shop, Medcroft Road, Tackley.

Mark Partington, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly. We have considered very carefully all the comments made during the public consultation.

"We believe that the amended plan announced today offers our customers across Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire the best prospect for a sustainable network in the future, bearing in mind the Government's minimum access criteria and the other factors it has asked us to consider."