PETERSFIELD Jobcentre Plus is set to close and be replaced by a mainly internet driven service.

Those from Petersfield and the surrounding villages, and towns like Liss, and Liphook who need to visit a Jobcentre will have to travel to the one at Havant in Elmliegh Road.

The closure of the Jobcentre Plus in Chapel Street is due to happen before March 31 next year says the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

A DWP statement said: "The way the world works has changed rapidly in the last 20 years and the welfare state needs to keep pace. As more people access their benefits through the internet, many of our buildings are under-used.

“We are concentrating our resources on what we know best helps people into work.

"We will always make sure that people have the support they need to get into and progress within work, that’s why we are recruiting 2,500 more work coaches to help those who need it most.”

But as the Havant Jobcentre is more than 13 miles, or 20 minutes by train, there is to be a consultation on the proposal, with a final decision due in six months.

If the plan to close the Jobcentre in Chapel Street goes head as expected, it will be closed by the end of March 2018, the spokesman added.

As part of the process all claimants will be contacted to explain what the changes will mean for them.

Employment minister and East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds said: "Where we are proposing closing a site we will take all possible precautions to minimise disruption for claimants, and vulnerable people will receive home visits and postal claims."

The DWP said it aims to merge 78 smaller Jobcentre Plus offices into larger ones, and move another 50 into council or other similar offices to create “one-stop shops”, and shut 27 back offices.

It insisted the move - carried out to slash its bills by £180m a year - would employ “under-used” buildings more efficiently.