The Tories have already pledged to fight the closures – the first to be announced since the local elections – while one Yorkshire MP described them as a "huge blow".

Calder Valley is the hardest-hit constituency in today's closures, with seven branches facing the axe.

In total, around 18 per cent of the 345 branches in West Yorkshire are facing closure as part of the Post Office's controversial plans to close 2,500 branches to cut losses.

Shadow Minister for Postal Affairs Charles Hendry said: "One of the major concerns is that these closures are illogical. It is simply a computer which has decided to close a post office which is deemed too close to another, even if it happens to be profitable and easily accessed by its customers.

"The Post Office is complacently assuming that all of the business at the closing profitable office will simply migrate to surviving branches. This conveniently supposes people will travel the extra distance irrespective of the public transport connections or the accessibility for vulnerable groups and the elderly.

"While the Government says it is listening, we will be fighting to save post offices across Yorkshire."

Today's announcement – which marks the start of six weeks of consultation over the branches identified – comes half way through the Post Office's closure programme. Closures have already been carried out in North and East Yorkshire, while subpostmasters in South Yorkshire and Huddersfield will discover their fate in August.

In West Yorkshire, five branches are earmarked for closure in Schools Secretary Ed Balls's Normanton constituency, five in the Leeds Central constituency of Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, and five more in International Development Minister Shahid Malik's seat of Dewsbury.

There are also five proposed closures in each of Bradford West, Batley and Spen, four in Bradford North, Morley and Rothwell, and Halifax, three in Leeds North West and Pudsey, two in Elmet, and Pontefract and Castleford, and one in Bradford South, Leeds North East, Leeds East and Shipley.

Calder Valley MP Christine McCafferty has already written to all postmasters affected to gauge their views of the proposals.

The Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for the constituency Craig Whittaker was planning to issue leaflets today ahead of a series of public meetings to oppose the closures.

He said: "I think it's diabolical. It's the older people and vulnerable people who need these services most that will suffer as a result of these decisions."

Greg Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, said the closures would have a "devastating impact" on local communities.

"The news of these closures is a huge blow for people right across the area," he said.

"Local businesses and local residents depend upon their local post office and the services that they provide, particularly the elderly who often simply cannot travel for miles to reach their nearest branch.

"These closures are a just another slap in the face for local people."

The list of branches comes the day after the Minister in charge of post offices maintained the closures were necessary because the network loses £500,000 a day.

Business Minister Pat McFadden said all companies and service providers had to adapt to change in an age when people could pay bills, compare prices and bank online.

Mr McFadden said the Government recognised the social value of the post office network which was why it was providing a £1.7bn funding package aimed at putting the network on a more stable and sustainable basis.

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