The Post Office is due to announce the closure of dozens of branches and cut hundreds of head office jobs as it looks to improve its financial situation.

A ‘New Deal’ for postmasters and the future of the Post Office is expected today and promises to put the organisation on a firmer footing.

There are about 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK, of which 115 are wholly centrally owned ‘Crown post offices’ and are thought to be most at risk. There were about 400 in 2012.

The rest are operated by independent post office operators under contract and partners such as WH Smith and Tesco.

Nigel Railton, the chair of the Post Office, is expected to announce the measures as part of a strategic review that he instigated in June.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “Tomorrow we will set out a ‘New Deal’ for postmasters and the future of the Post Office as an organisation.

“It will dramatically increase postmasters’ share of revenues, strengthen our branch network and make it work better for local communities, independent postmasters and our partners who own and operate branches.”