YET another Weymouth post office will close when it is taken over by a supermarket chain.

Dorchester Road post office will shut when the One Stop chain of convenience stores is rebranded as Tesco Express.

The closure is a blow to post office users in the town, already reeling from the announcement that six branches are to close, with the future of a seventh - Southill - still hanging in the balance.

The six confirmed closures are part of a nationwide programme by Post Office Ltd to cut a third of all urban post offices. One of the criteria the organisation used for shutting the branches was the proximity of alternative offices. Users of Radipole Spa and Lennox Street post offices, which will both be closed by March 11, were told their nearest alternative was the counter in One Stop on Lodmoor Hill.

But now the future of this counter is in doubt because the supermarket giant has decided postal products are not as profitable as groceries - a decision that could affect up to 100 branches nationwide.

Jim Knight, South Dorset MP, said the decision to close the counter was one Tesco had made without regard to the impact of the current closure programme.

"This decision was taken by Tesco without any consultation with the Post Office, the Government or the local communities affected.

"Staff have already started receiving redundancy notices. I am shocked and outraged at this flagrant disregard of the communities they claim to serve. This comes at a bad time for post office closures. In Weymouth almost half of all branches are being closed. This decision blows a hole in the Post Office strategy."

A spokesman for Post Office Ltd said Tesco had given six months' notice to the organisation that it no longer wished to operate a branch on the premises.

The spokesman said: "In the light of recent closures this office was one that was intended to remain. Clearly this is an unfortunate change.

"We certainly had not been expecting the news and we are now considering the ramifications. Post Office will be seeking an alternative provider in the vicinity."

Gary Hepburn of consumer watchdog Postwatch said: "This office is a major feature of the provision in Weymouth.

"It's particularly unfortunate because it's a receiving office for customers from Radipole Spa, Lennox Street and King Street. It will leave a hole in that side of the town.

"If we had known about this when the earlier proposals were under consultation we would have had a completely different approach.

"We will do all we can to assist the Post Office in finding someone new," he said.

Post Office Ltd has sent posters to One Stop on Dorchester Road asking for applications to take over the post office counter franchise.

A spokesman for Tesco said: "Where we can keep the post office within the new Tesco Express we do. In this instance it is not possible. Mainly it is down to space.

"We are working closely with the Post Office and are giving them twice the statutory notice of intention to close so they have as much chance as possible to transfer that work as seamlessly as possible."