MORE than 100 people braved the weather last Wednesday as part of the fight to save Northlew Post Office. Residents from across the parish turned out in force to make their voices heard and were joined by West Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox. He was there to listen to people's anger and concerns as well as to deliver a speech in which he said West Devon and Torridge was one of the hardest hit areas in the country for proposed post office closures. Northlew resident Martin Perry told the Times there were so many people at the protest not everyone could get into the church to hear Mr Cox's speech. Mr Perry said: 'The village is in uproar. the nearest facility at Highhampton is four miles away. 'Lots of businesses in the village use the post office — I mean, how are you going to run a business with no post office?' The steering group working to save the post office in Northlew are stepping up their fight as they claim to have discovered a 'glaring error' in the population figures used by the Post Office to justify the withdrawal of the service. Ian Richards, who researched the statistics, said: 'The mathematics are wrong. The head count used by the Post Office is based on the 2001 census that clearly records Northlew's population as 592 whereas the Post Office have used the figure of 309. 'Even if you limit the population to a distance of a mile from the village centre the figure is still 450. 'This is not the only mathematical error. In the Post Office criteria they state that no post office will be closed if the nearest branch is above three miles away. For us this is Highampton, which is four miles away with no public transport to get there. 'In February 2008, it emerged from the Commons Select Committee that if a post office closure meant a community lost its last shop then the closure would not proceed. 'Just to make matters worse, the Post Office claim we can use online facilities for some of their services but this is not true either, broadband has yet to arrive in Northlew.' A public meeting will be held in the Victory Hall, Northlew today (Thursday), at 7.30pm. Postwatch have confirmed they will send a representative while Mc Cox, Cllr James McInnes, and prospective parliamentary candidates Conservative Mel Stride and Liberal Democrat Sally Morgan also hope to attend. Mr Cox has urged all residents affected by proposed post office closures to write individual letters as these will have a greater impact than a petition. Comments should be sent to Tim Nickolls, network development manager, Post Office Ltd, FREEPOST CONSULTATION TEAM or email [email protected]">[email protected]