More than 5,000 people joined the Mail's Protect Your Post Office petition to save the three under-fire offices in Hartlepool.

A final decision on the closure list is expected to be announced by Post Office bosses on Tuesday, May 13.

The proposed closures are part of the restructuring of the network, which will see 2,500 offices close nationwide, in a bid to cut losses which topped £200m last year.

The threatened sites in town are Raby Estate Post Office, in Chatham Road, in the Dyke House area of town, Elwick Road Post Office, in Elwick Road and Hart Post Office, in Hart village.

The proposed closures in Hartlepool come under the area plan for Cleveland, South Durham and Richmond.

The six-week public consultation period into the proposed closures ended last month, and the consultation team is currently sifting through all the representations made by campaigners.

Hutton Henry Post Office, in Front Street, Hutton Henry, is another earmarked for closure.

Harry Cole, the 60-year-old postmaster, said: "I think the closure will be quite devastating and if it goes ahead then it will have the same affect on the community as the closures of the pits.

"I am very disappointed with the whole issue and I still don't know when I will have to leave my job. The whole process has been very frustrating."

Mayor of Hartlepool Stuart Drummond helped launch the Mail's petition which saw young and old joining forces to save their local service.

Mayor Drummond said: "There is quite a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of the three post offices in town threatened with closure.

"At least on May 13 we will have a clearer idea of where we stand and then we can look at what to do next."

Two post offices in Billingham, the Cowpen Estate, in Cowpen Lane, and Wolviston Court, in Clifton Avenue are also on the proposed closure list.

There is no route of appeal for those post offices affected, and those forced to shut will do so at the end of June and into early July.

If the consultation team decide to save some of the threatened sites then they may decide to close others in the same area plan.

If that is the case then those post offices affected will be subject to a six-week consultation period.

Adrian Wales, the Post Office's network development manager, makes the final decision and as part of the consultation period. Mr Wales, along with his team, have been reading all of the representations made by the public.