The only paper waved in the House of Commons is usually the day’s order paper.

But MP Cheryl Gillan made an exception for the Amersham and Chesham Free Press when she displayed its headline to the other MPs in the house.

She took the paper, with the story Last Chance to Save Your Post Office – about Chesham Bois post office – to London for a debate on the future of local post offices.

The Tory MP for Chesham and Amersham pointed out the front page to minister Stephen Timms, and asked him what he would say to her constituents in Chesham Bois about their post office.

She told him that there had been strong campaigning from the Free Press about the issue of the village post office and added that it reflected the wave of local concern about the proposed closure.

She told the minister of state for e-commerce and competitiveness, “People are desperate and they have seen no sign that their representations and letters have been taken into consideration.”

Mrs Gillan said the debate, on the Urban Post Office Reinvention Programme, stated that urban post offices had to be situated more than one mile apart. And on that calculation, she suggested that five out of 15 post offices in the Chesham and Amersham constituency could close down.

She added afterwards: “The Free Press could well be on display again in the Commons as the time ticks away.”

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