For many people, news that 44 post offices face the axe in Scotland signals the end of an era.

Not only could it mark the end of the local post office, for many it could also mean the closure of the associated convenience store.

While the post office network has fought hard to remain relevant by providing extra services, there is concern that many of its products and services can now be accessed more conveniently in other ways.

As communication has gone digital, many stores, including supermarkets, now sell its core products, such as stamps.

Of the 22 post offices planned for closure in Glasgow, four are in the west end. As news of the proposals filtered through to the community, many were puzzled as to which post offices would actually remain open.

Others, including post office staff members, expressed concerns that associated convenience stores - corner shops - would also be forced out of existence.

The four west end premises threatened with closure are the Crow Road branch, West End Post Office and Newsagents in Dumbarton Road, Hyndland Post Office in Clarence Drive and Kelvindale Post Office in Kelvindale Road.

One shop owner, who did not want to be identified, said he feared for himself and his two staff who run the post office and convenience store. He said: "Mostly people go from the post office to the store so we need the post office.

"We will be putting up posters tomorrow saying it will be closing down. They have decided which one is going to close and then it is down for public consultation. They have not asked me anything.

"Unless something serious is said by the public about wanting to stop this then they will close. We will have to see how people react. The shop would have to close as well if the post office goes - there is no option. We would have to sell this or rent it out."

Many residents who use the four west end post offices on the closure list feared that it would drive more people away from existing post offices and on to the internet for communication.

Outside the Hyndland Post Office, operated from an RS McColl newsagent, locals were dismayed to hear they could lose the services.

Eileen Wiggins, 79, said: "It is diabolical. Why should this happen to us poor souls? Where are we supposed to go now? This is a very popular post office and I use it for many things including posting letters to relatives in Canada and down south. "

Crow Road post office also gained support from locals, many fearing that those post offices that remained open would feel the pinch with even bigger queues.

Diane McManus, a 45-year-old housewife with two young children, said: "It is disgraceful that they are closing down all these much-needed smaller post offices because, even in Glasgow, they have become centres of our communities.

"It is a few minutes to walk to the post office for me and I use it probably twice a week, to post things I have sold on eBay and send various parcels. I would not be without it. I don't know how some of the elderly are going to cope.

"My own mother is 74 and she is dependent on the West End Post Office which is also a grocery shop and is also due for closure.

"The fact it was there meant that she got out and about, got some exercise by walking to get her pension and food. She also got some social interaction out of it. This is not available anywhere else that she could reach. Computers are no substitute for this."

Some, however, thought the end of the post office was inevitable. Speaking outside West End Post Office, Andrew Flaherty, 35, a small-business adviser, said: "Of course, I use my local post office now and again but I don't think we would honestly lose out if it was gone.

"It is an emotive subject and it is predictable to say the post office is a tradition that needs to be preserved but the reality is that you can't halt progress and the fact is that technology is replacing the need for them.

"I have to say that it is hard to know what the post office actually is now what with Royal Mail staff disrupting deliveries and snail mail becoming less important and less instant than e-mail and text messaging."

Closure plans
GREATER GLASGOW