Commenting following the announcement that, after a consultation period, Post Office management have decided to press ahead with the replacement of the Post Offices at Cuminestown and Rothienorman with a mobile service, SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford said:
"This is very disappointing news indeed although not unexpected given the track record of closure decisions made by Post Office management nationally.
"Post Offices provide an essential public service and in both Cuminestown and Rothienorman these could have been providing valuable support and footfall for established local businesses.
"The Post Office network cannot be treated as simply another private enterprise. It is an essential national provider of public services which should be maintained.
"It is an absolute disgrace that things have reached this stage and instead of stripping Post Offices of valuable functions such as television licensing, benefits payments and pensions to make them unviable in some cases, the London Government should have been supporting rural businesses and investing in their future as an essential service."