The majority of Oxfordshire's doomed post offices will shut by the middle of next week.

Six of the county's 22 branches earmarked for closure will send out their last post on Thursday, with 10 more following suit within the next seven days.

The list of closure dates, obtained by the Oxford Mail from Post Office Ltd, reveals how quickly the company is shutting down the branches - less than a month after the announcement was made.

At Iffley Post Office, sub-postmistress Dian Harvey said the branch's closure, on Wednesday, June 11, would be a sad day for the community.

She said: "I'm feeling very emotional. I'm very upset and I feel sad for the people who aren't going to be able to get to other branches.

"The elderly customers are going to have to get sons, daughters or carers to take them to other post offices, but what happens to those who have nobody?

"The customers are feeling quite gobsmacked, I think.

"A lady who has a young son recently came in and said post office life as we know it just won't exist when he has grown up.

"We all grew up with the post office as a community centre, and that just will not be there for this younger generation."

The post office in Fyfield will be one of the first in Oxfordshire to close its doors, when time is called on sub-postmaster Peter Rayner's 22-year career on Thursday.

He said: "The day will be tinged with sadness but I can understand the reasons why we're closing. The volume of business just isn't there any more. The closure of the post office has had a huge impact on the shop and in future the shop will be opening on a limited basis."

At Begbroke, sub-postmaster Bob Perkin, who has served the community for seven years, said he also fears for the future of his general store, alongside the A44.

He said: "We have known from day one 18 months ago that this was likely to happen, so it hasn't come as a great shock.

"It will be sad to close the post office, because we really don't know what impact it will have on the rest of our business.

"There will be a few months of not knowing whether it will survive and we will have to carry on in the hope that it can."

Post Office spokesman Jane Thomas said the flurry of closures, just weeks after confirmation the axe would fall, was not part of a specific plan.

She said: "It came down to personal choice. It was a case of coming up with a timescale that suited postmasters and their future prospects.

"We asked for an indication, whether they preferred to close within a month or within three. It has just happened that most people have chosen one month."

But at Stanmore Crescent Post Office, in Carterton, sub-postmistress Melanie Kelly said she had yet to hear when it would shut.

She said: "We have heard nothing - no dates, no communication. One of my customers even came in and said she thought we had been saved, but we just don't know."

Post Office spokesman Richard Hall said: "We're now finalising the exact closure date for Stanmore Crescent."