People who run post offices across the UK must be paid properly to ensure the service can continue running, North Norfolk MP Duncan Baker has told his own government.
Conservative MP Mr Baker, who used to be sub-postmaster at the Budgens store in Aylsham, claimed the real terms amount earned by his former colleagues had "fallen substantially" in recent years, while the Post Office’s overall revenue had gone up.
Mr Baker told a Westminster Hall debate: "Despite the fact the commercial revenues of the Post Office has increased by about £100m over the last few years, the actual revenue sub-postmasters have earned in that time has fallen substantially by 12.5pc in just the last three years.
"Of the 11,700 post offices that operate around the country… only 9,500 of those are full-time services, simply because of the lack of viability."
Business minister Kevin Hollinrake agreed with the need for postmasters’ pay to be "sustainable", but said this was the responsibility of the Post Office.
While the Post Office is a private company, it is entirely owned by the government.