AN ELEVENTH hour bid to a save a village Post Office in Crewe is being spearheaded by Willaston councillor Brian Silvester.

Willaston Post Office is to be axed later this month as part of a shake-up in the service as chiefs insist there are too many offices chasing too little business.

The plans have angered villagers, but despite getting the backing of the parish, borough and county councils, they have so far failed to change the minds of postal bosses.

Now Cllr Silvester is calling for the Willaston office to be classified as 'rural' in a last ditch effort to save the branch.

He said: "This Post Office is clearly a rural Post Office, but it is being closed as urban. The Post Office are not allowed to close rural Post Offices so this designation is crucial."

He has placed a 'notice of motion' on the next borough council agenda, calling on the postal service to give Willaston the rural designation.

Challenging the Post Office's classification of the branch as 'urban' Cllr Silvester has written to the Royal Mail, saying: "It would seem that the Post Office is the only body that thinks Willaston is urban."

The campaign team, led by the councillor, has won support from three councils, generated a 13-page petition from residents and has a shopkeeper willing to takeover the licence.

But so far the Post Office has dismissed all approaches that campaigners have made to discuss the closure.

A Post Office spokesman said: "Our classification system is based upon the mapping of built-up areas, combined with census data, rather than the character and 'feel' of a particular area."