THE financial future for many sub-postmasters in South Lakeland is looking bleak even if they survive the Post Office cull on Tuesday.

Post Office Ltd is expected to announce which branches it intends to close in Cumbria next week, subject to the findings of a six-week consultation period.

However, for the branches that endure the purge, a 15 per cent reduction in pay introduced last year could force the closure of more post offices.

Post Office Ltd has reduced the amount postmasters receive through the Core Tier Payment - calculated on how many letters they deal with - which effectively provides the branch masters with a basic wage.

Instead, sub-postmasters are being told to top-up their wages by selling financial products, such as insurance and savings accounts.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said that the reduction in the Core Tier Payment was going to hit sub-postmasters in the Lake District very hard because they would be unable to make up the loss through commission based on selling financial products.

Mr Farron claims sub-postmasters have been told to make up their basic salary by selling insurance, credit cards, saving accounts and loans.

"That is not why they are postmasters and that is not why people go into their post office," said Mr Farron. "Also, postmasters who live in small villages are going to exhaust their market within a few months anyway, because there are only so many people."

Malcolm Jessop, postmaster at Grasmere, said: "Over the last year they changed the way that we were paid so that we have to sell financial products to make up our wage. I have seen my wage go down.

"It is particularly going to affect the post offices in the national park. We are very limited to who we can sell these products to."

Diane Bath, postmaster at both Hawkshead and Broughton branches, said the demand for financial products would be very limited in rural villages, and that she moved into the industry to be part of her community and not to be a salesperson.

"The payments have gone down substantially, especially in Hawkshead," she said. "Anywhere that is touristy is going to lose out substantially because it is not based on mail anymore - it is based on selling car insurance and savings. Japanese tourists are not going to want to buy them, so we are going to lose out quite a lot through it.

"During winter it is very quiet in Hawkshead and we really need the extra cash from tourists, but if we are not going to be paid as much for this service then what else can we do? There is only so much insurance people want to buy."

Steve Barnes, postmaster at Kirkland Post Office, in Kendal, said he thought rural post offices would struggle to make a living selling financial products and he believed many post offices may go under in the future even if they survived the current purge.

"All these things have just been cut and cut and cut, everything that we do we get less and less," he said. "We can't make any significant living from selling financial products. You get a one-off £2 payment if someone buys a product. I cannot make a sustainable living from selling financial products."

However, Phil Glennon, postmaster of Coniston Post Office, said that although his Core Tier Payment had gone down, he wanted to remain positive about the process and wanted people to concentrate on the region maintaining the majority of its post offices.

"I agree my Core Tier Payment has gone down but like anybody I'm not happy about it. But I'm trying to move my business on to try to compensate.

"I'm trying to remain positive about it, rather than concentrate on the doom and gloom."

When asked about the reduction in the Core Tier Payments, and if the topping-up of wages by selling financial products was viable in rural village branches, a Post Office Ltd spokesman said: "We don't discuss details of our remuneration arrangements with sub-postmasters as they are commercially sensitive."