AS Job Club members and therefore unemployed, we feel that the proposed closure of Dursley job centre at the end of this month is an absolute disaster for us.

We come from rural areas all around Dursley, such as Cam, Wotton and Berkeley, as well as Dursley itself and having to go to Yate, Stroud or Gloucester to sign on could be as much as a 40-mile round trip. Many of us do not have our own transport and have to rely on public transport that can only be described as expensive and inadequate. For some it could involved most of the day to do the round trip and at least half a day for others.

Dursley has been designated as an area due for regeneration and it has come as a surprise to us that the Department of Work and Pensions is acting unilaterally and in opposition to other government departments actively involved in the regeneration.

In October 2004 you had an article in your paper about 1,000 plus jobs going from the Berkeley nuclear site this year. It also said in that article that the DWP did not think there was enough "projected usage of the office". How many unemployed people do there have to be before a Jobcentre Plus office is seen as viable?

From your article in the Gazette (March 4), we note that all 51 councillors of Stroud District Council voted against the closure. We are aware that many unemployed people in this area are against the closure.

Is this not a case where the local voice is being totally disregarded at a time when there is to be a general election?

Perhaps this is indicative of this government's interest in listening to local people.

B Hodgson, P L Harper, B M Farrer Dursley Job Club Members Dursley Education Centre Dursley