To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the closure of the Shrewsbury post office. (85484)

I understand that the directly managed office in Shrewsbury is to be relocated to premises 50 yards away under a franchising agreement and customers will benefit from extended opening hours and have access to the same full range of services. Decisions on individual offices are an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. The 500 directly managed post offices made combined annual losses of some £50 million in 2005-06 and Post Office Ltd are seeking more cost-effective ways of providing main post office services to the public.