Union bosses in Cheshire have launched a petition to save Nantwich Jobcentre threatened with closure.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) in Cheshire say the centre, on Swine Market, must remain open.
They claims that Department of Work and Pensions management are proposing the site closes and only a limited, part-time, and temporary library-based outreach service remain in the town.
It is one of three centres, with others in Penrith and Clitheroe, which are threatened with closure.
It cwuld mean most benefits claimants being forced to travel to Crewe Jobcentre.
A spokesman for PCS Cheshire said: “This closure will be a loss to the local economy.
“Permanent civil service jobs will be lost from Nantwich forever with the danger that our members will be unable to travel to Crewe every-day and be made de facto redundant.
“The closure will strip local people of a valued and important public service.
“The population of Nantwich and the surrounding, mostly rural, area in which our current customers live have a right to good quality, well-staffed public services to which Nantwich JCP contributes.
“The effect of closing this site is that customers will now live too far away from Crewe to be reasonably asked to travel there regularly for appointments, further exacerbating the stress of unemployment.”
The union says management has agreed to use a public consultation period to consult with staff to learn what problems the closures would mean for them in advance of the final decision on the closure being taken.
They are urging people to sign a petition launched by the Cheshire Branch of the Public and Commercial Services union that organises the workers at Nantwich against its planned closure by DWP management.
The union’s petition to save the centre can be viewed here.
This is needed in Nantwich. The town is getting much bigger and this is vital facilities