Hardship fears if five tax offices in region are axed

The proposals by HM Revenue and Customs will see the offices in Shrewsbury, Telford, Ludlow, Oswestry and Welshpool replaced by a new telephone service and occasional face-to-face meetings in businesses and homes.

HMRC claims the changes will save money, but local councillors have claimed that the plans do not take into account the types of issues people living in the region have.

Councillor Martin Taylor-Smith, who represents Ludlow on Shropshire Council, said: "There is no substitute for face to face contact with advisors being easily available to customers.

"It is particularly important to have someone to actually see and talk to in places like Ludlow where 30 per cent of the population are retirees and not all of them are PC or internet literate.

"A whole swathe of the area does not have access to the internet either because of broadband issues."

The Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents workers at tax offices across the county, backed Councillor Taylor-Smith's claims, claiming the closures would cut off vital personal support for pensioners and other vulnerable taxpayers.

The union has urged members of the public to take part in HMRC's consultation, which ends in May, and to write to their MPs.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Closing all face to face tax offices would break the link between people in communities and an essential public service they rely on.

"If, as we fear, flawed research has been used to justify these closure plans then ministers must put an immediate stop to them."

In Telford, Priorslee ward councillor Veronica Fletcher said she was surprised to hear that the centre at Abbey House in Whitechapel Way, could be closing after 21 years.

"It will be a bit of a blow for the workforce," she said. "I worked there myself when it first opened. I worked for Tax Back, where people could apply to reclaim their tax if they weren't working or had low incomes.

"I'm really, really surprised and shocked in a way, because I never thought they would move it because it's such a prime location for a tax office and for people to access all their tax affairs. It serves a huge area."