STRUGGLING postmasters could be forced into desperate measures to keep their businesses afloat, it was warned last night.Beryl Keats, Suffolk secretary of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, said that businessmen and women running struggling post offices - particularly in rural areas - could be tempted to dip their fingers into the till.

STRUGGLING postmasters could be forced into desperate measures to keep their businesses afloat, it was warned last night.

Beryl Keats, Suffolk secretary of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters, said that businessmen and women running struggling post offices - particularly in rural areas - could be tempted to dip their fingers into the till.

She raised her concerns after Kevin Howells, former sub-postmaster at Acton, near Sudbury, pleaded guilty to stealing more than £15,000 by using lottery takings to subsidise the adjacent shop.

Shortly after a judge at Ipswich Crown Court spared him a jail term, Mr Howells told the EADT that juggling the post office and shop “proved too difficult” - and Mrs Keats said this was now becoming a common occurrence among under-pressure postmasters.

She said: “This case just emphasises how desperate some postmasters are to keep their businesses afloat. Post offices are going through very hard times with other businesses now able to sell stamps, television licences - the list goes on.

“A lot of postmasters, especially in rural districts, find they are losing customers and they have become desperate to survive.

“There are an awful lot of people who are teetering on the brink. I am not saying they should borrow from the takings or saying that it is not wrong. But often their hands are tied and there is no other solution - what else can they do?

“If it was to keep up a lavish lifestyle, then I would be horrified. But most postmasters are frantically trying to keep their businesses afloat. The whole situation is very sad.”

In October, thousands of campaigners rallied in London pleading with the Government to protect services after 120 branches across Suffolk and north Essex closed in just seven years.

With the £150m-a-year subsidy for rural post offices due to be cut in 2008, Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling last week announced 2,500 offices would close - but no decision has yet been made on where these sweeping cuts will take place.

Mary Garrett, sub-postmaster at Long Melford Post Office, said: “Every post office is going through difficult stages at the moment. The Government hasn't said which branches will close so this means there is a massive question mark hanging over all of us.

“Everyone is worried at the moment about the future - we are all just doing what we can to legally keep our heads afloat.”

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “We are aware of the pressures facing post offices, both small and large, but the vast majority of sub-postmasters are reliable, law-abiding businessmen.”

Suffolk police last night said they did not want to comment on Mrs Keats's words.

dave.gooderham@eadt.co.uk