IT COULD be another blow for rural post offices in Cumbria after Royal Mail asked the Government to cut its Saturday letter service. 

Royal Mail unveiled large losses in its half-year results after it said that three days of strike action in the first half cost the group £70 million, and a further five days in October cost an estimated £30 million. 

It has since formally asked the Government to switch from a six-days-a-week letter delivery service to five, covering Monday to Friday, but will maintain a seven-day parcel delivery service. 

This may affect places such as Sedbergh Delivery Office. Postmaster Peter Jackson claims that Royal Mail is considering transferring the service from Sedbergh to Kendal, to which Royal Mail said that 'there are no plans.' 

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has campaigned for Sedbergh Post Office and given his support to a petition requesting Royal Mail to keep the office open.

READ MORE: Oxenholme Railway Station postal services to be restored in November

In response to Royal Mail's request to the Government, he said: "It will be a blow to our centres. We want the Royal Mail to succeed, they are going to be undercut by private organisations. Again, as a consequence, it will not just threaten Sedbergh but other sorting offices in Kendal."

He argued that Royal Mail needs to be charging companies such as Amazon more rather than cutting services. 

Boss Simon Thomspon, the chief executive of Royal Mail, told PA: "We have always been clear we need change to survive. We have started turning the business around and will do whatever it takes.

"We would prefer to reach an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) but in any case, we are moving ahead with changes to transform our business.

"While we recognise the issues that Royal Mail raise, there would need to be a strong case that showed changes would meet reasonable needs of users of postal services and ensure the financial sustainability of the universal postal service.”

Despite this, it is not all bad news for the region's rural post offices. Avanti West Coast gave space for the new Oxenholme Post Office to start running from Oxenhome Railway Station. The service began on November 7.