The Post Office has been accused of using misleading and inaccurate information to shut down branches across Sussex.

Wrong addresses, nonexistent buses and incorrect travel mileage have all been uncovered in documents released by Post Office Ltd as part of plans to close 49 outlets in the county.

And Adur District Council, which could lose five out of the 12 post offices in its area, has gone as far as to claim that the method of measuring the nearest alternative branch is deliberately misleading.

Post Office Ltd has calculated that the closest store to the threatened Bowness Avenue shop, Sompting, is under one mile away.

But the district council has found that for those living in the Cokeham Ward and North Peverel wards, the nearest post office would be North Street, Lancing, which is two miles away.

Brighton and Hove City Council has also found that addresses have been wrongly recorded and proposed alternative bus links fictitious.

In a report discussed by councillors it emerged: "Officers have also noted inaccuracies in the information that Post Office has provided in relation to the closures.

"There are errors in addresses - the Hollingbury branch is described as being on Preston Road rather than on Preston Drove.

"More seriously, perhaps, there are errors in the claims the Post Office make for alternative access arrangements."

The Richardson Road branch, for example, does not have a direct bus link to Portland Road, Hove, as suggested by the Post Office.

All political parties have demanded action to save the six threatened offices in Brighton and Hove.

Councillor Brian Oxley, the leader of the city council, said: "People are just fed up with this."

Both councils have also complained about the Post Office's definition of deprived areas, which only includes the country's bottom 15 per cent. The poorest areas must have an post office within one mile.

Adur has a number of areas within the 20 per cent most deprived in the country but none in the 15 per cent bracket.

Research by Brighton and Hove has shown that closer analysis of poverty shows that at least two of the areas threatened with post office closures are in pockets of high-level deprivation but do not qualify for special treatment under the Post Office's criteria.

A report to be discussed by Adur council next week predicts far reaching consequences on nearby shops if post offices close.

It reads: "The post offices threatened by this review provide the community not only with essential financial and postal services but they also act as point of social focus which add considerably to the local community infrastructure.

"All post offices are located within convenience/newsagent stores and the loss of income from the post office service might threaten the viability of these retail units as a whole."

The analysis goes on to criticise Post Office Ltd for not taking into account major physical barriers, like crossing the A27.

Labour councillor Juliet McCaffery represents Brighton's Preston Park ward where two stores are threatened.

In a letter to the city council's chief executive, Alan McCarthy, she queried whether the steep hills in her ward had been taken into account.

A Post Office spokesman said: "The public consultation is a key part of the whole process and we welcome and will take on board all comments and feedback during this time.

"No final decisions will be made on the proposals until after the public consultation is complete."

For a full list of threatened post offices visit www.theargus.co.uk/_images/misc/other/postoffice_map.gif.