Relief as Post Office contract is renewed
Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said the announcement was "good news for our constituents, good news for Post Office Ltd and good news forsub-postmasters".
In a Commons statement, he said ministers were cancelling the current procurement exercise and awarding the contract for the Post Office Card Account(POCA) to the Post Office.
The contract would run initially from April 2010 to March 2015 with "the possibility of an extension beyond that".
Mr Purnell said that in a time of financial turbulence, the PO was a "trusted brand" seen as a safe and reliable provider of financial services.
The account is used by millions of people to receive benefits and pensions, and it was feared that losing the contract could sound the death knell for many post offices.
Susan Williams, sub-postmistress at Bradwell Post Office, said: "It's absolutely wonderful news, not just for us but for the pensioners as well.
"It's like a weight has been lifted off us. Hopefully this should assure our future for the next few years at least.
"It is more important for a post office in the middle of an estate, like ours, rather than rural one where there aren't that many houses."
The North Staffordshire Pensioners' Convention has been at the forefront of the campaign to save the POCA, urging its members to send postcards to their MP.
Co-ordinator Andy Day said: "We're delighted with this news. It's a reward for all the huge efforts of groups like ourselves and the campaigners for post offices around the country. I remember waiting at Hanley bus station at 6am to go down to London with the National Federation of Post Masters to lobby the Government a couple of years ago.
"If this decision had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of the post office network as we know it. Post offices are vital for elderly people who can't get about very easily."
For more on this story, see The Sentinel tomorrow
Comment on this story