A SMALL band of pensioners brought Totnes to a halt for half an hour as they staged a roadblock protest over the closure of one of the town post offices.

The placard-waving campaigners in their 80s and 90s blocked the High Street, halting traffic and trapping dozens of car, vans and lorries from one end of Totnes main street to the other.

At one stage there were angry scenes as at least one irate driver tried to persuade the protesters to move and let the traffic go.

In the end, the police arrived just as 92-year-old Lilian Brown and her supporters decided to lift the blockade and move out of the road.

Lilian, who lay down in the middle of the road to make her protest point, said afterwards: "The post office is there for all the people including old people and it's not for making money.

"People need to use that post office."

Lilian was joined by her 87-year-old husband Donald, supporters Pat Wilson, aged 80 and Mary Hurford, aged 84, along with around five more protesters to stage the road block.

They are angry over Post Office Ltd's decision to close the High Street Post Office in Totnes despite protests from the town council and townspeople.

The post office is now all set to close on Monday and there is a message in the window from John Heal who has been sub-postmaster there for years thanking customers for their 'loyal support'.

The protest was staged in the road outside Totnes Market Square as it was crowded with shoppers at the height of the weekly Friday market.

Many of the shoppers crowded into the road showing support for the protest or looked on from the sidelines.

One of them was Totnes town councillor Jean Harrop, who supported the protest as she declared she would not use the main town post office in Fore Street because it is too small, too crowded and has 'no access for buggies or wheelchairs'.

Another was Totnes businessman David Lacey, who said the protest was 'brilliant' and warned that the main post office is too small to cope with the extra customers once the High Street business is shut.

"It is going to be bonkers in there next week," he said.

Not so happy were the drivers caught up in the protest who ended up trapped in the High Street with nowhere to go.

"It's a pain," said Paignton workman John Rundle, who was trying to get to The Rotherfold, just 100 yards beyond the protesters.

"They are holding me up and I am not happy," he said.

Lilian is a veteran anti-war protester who takes part in weekly anti-war vigils outside Totnes' St Mary's parish church each Saturday.

She said after protest: "I think all these people realise that I mean business."

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