The Post Office was last night accused of "ending a way of life" after targeting dozens more Scottish branches for closure.

Proposals were announced yesterday to shut one in seven of its offices in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde, leaving some in rural communities with no realistic alternative.

The chairwoman of one community council, representing Queenzieburn near Kilsyth, said her friends and neighbours would be effectively cut off if their local sub post office shuts.

Jean Strautton said: "People are really upset. This is really the end of a way of life for our village."

The 67-year-old pensioner added: "We have a lot of seniors here. The nearest post office is in Twechar, which is one mile away. But there is only one bus an hour, there and back, so people will be stuck outside for hours."

Queenzieburn Community Council will meet tonight to discuss the proposals, as will local organisations across the region.

"Banton is losing its post office too," said Mrs Strautton, of a neighbouring village. "They've only got one bus an hour."

The mood was sombre yesterday at the post office in Queenzieburn. Acting post-mistress Marlyn Milloy said: "The people in Kilsyth won't be happy either. They are keeping their post office, but it's going to get a lot more crowded."

These cuts are just the latest. The Post Office Ltd aims to close 2500 of its 14,000 branches in the UK.

Sally Buchanan, the Post Office's network development manager for Scotland, said: "Taking the decision to close any branch is always very difficult and we know will cause concern to many of our customers.

"We want to ensure that everyone who uses, relies on or has any concern with Post Office services is both fully aware of the proposed changes and able to give views on them.

"Post Office Ltd's aim is to continue to provide essential services and support retail businesses and the local economy in as many communities as possible, subject to the minimum access criteria set by the government.

"The rural communities in Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire will be served by a total of 240 branches, of which 48 provide the only access to cash in their communities."

The SNP attacked the closures. Mike Weir, its Westminster spokesman on the issue, said the moves amounted to "death by a thousand cuts".

He added: "We should not forget that post offices provide a lifeline local service, and if these closures go ahead it will undermine both the economic and, in many areas, the social heart of communities.

"The scale of these rounds of cuts clearly confirms earlier fears about the extent of the next round."

In Kirkintilloch, another of the affected areas, 89-year-old Sadie learned her local branch in Rosebank was to close as she went to pick up her pension.

She wasn't entirely convinced by the Post Office's arguments that closures made the network "sustainable".

The retired dinner lady said: "There are a lot of people who can walk to this post office who won't be able to go into town. They are not going to be happy at all."

Her postmaster, Mr Singh, admitted the community would be devastated by the closure.

But he added: "As a business, we are no longer making any money out of the post office so it won't be the end of the world if it closes."