Another 68 post offices in the West Midlands are set to be told that they must close.

The results of a consultation into the future of post offices in the Black Country, Worcestershire and Herefordshire is to be announced.

And it is expected to reveal that just one of 69 branches threatened with the axe has been saved as a result of local campaigns.

This includes 56 branches threatened with complete closure, and 13 which are set to be replaced by “outreach” services, such as a van which provides a mobile post office with limited opening hours.

It follows another consultation earlier this year into post offices in Birmingham and Warwickshire – which also resulted in just one branch being saved.

Post Office Ltd announced that 55 services in Birmingham, Warwickshire and Solihull would go, including five which are to be replaced by part-time “outreach” services.

The cull of branches has outraged MPs, who argue that post offices deliver essential local services.

But Post Office Ltd insists changes are needed because of falling customer numbers and the increasing use of the internet to access services.

The network has lost four million customers over the past two years and makes a loss of £3.5 million a week. It currently receives a subsidy of £150 million each year from taxpayers.

It has also become a political issue, which Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs claiming the Government is supporting the closure programme.

The Government says it is actually keeping as many branches open as possible, by providing funding to help Post Office Ltd reorganise the network.

Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff said the closure of post offices in his constituency was “an act of social and economic vandalism.”

Constituencies affected by the announcement include Wolverhampton South East, represented by Business Minister Pat McFadden, who is the minister responsible for postal services.

Branches named as candidates for closure in the consultation included two in Aldridge-Brownhills, three in Bromsgrove, five in Dudley, two in Redditch, three in Stourbridge, three in Walsall, three in Warley and five in West Bromwich.

Across the country, 2,500 branches are set to go as part of the current closure programme.

But even more could be forced to close if Post Office Ltd loses the contract to operate the Post Office Card Account, ministers have been warned.

The card account was created as a basic substitute for people who do not have bank accounts. Benefits can be paid into it and cash can be withdrawn, but it is impossible to go overdrawn.

Post Office Ltd’s contract to operate the card is due to expire in 2010, and no decision has been made about whether to renew it, or give the contract to another business.

George Thomson, general secretary of the National Federation of Sub Postmasters, has written to the Prime Minister warning that another 3,000 could be forced to close if the contract went elsewhere.

The letter said: “The prospect of 3,000 more branches closing in chaotic fashion is appalling.”

He called for the Government to speed up a decision about the contract, to end uncertainty. Tenders to run the account were submitted in March this year.

Quizzed in the House of Commons recently, Mr McFadden said he could not give a date for the decision.