A £25 MILLION TV advertising campaign to persuade the elderly to stop picking up their pension at their local post office has come under fire.

Starting tonight, TV adverts, starring One Foot in the Grave comedy actress Annette Crosbie, will urge pensioners to have their money paid directly into a bank or building society account instead.

But the campaign has been immediately attacked by James Gray, Tory MP for North Wiltshire, and by post office owners for bullying pensioners who had opted to hang on to their pension book.

And he warned that the changes would spark the closure of many post offices, which will lose the lucrative revenue from processing over-the-counter payments.

Since last month, the elderly can have their state pension paid directly into a bank, building society or post office account, rather than over-the-counter.

Later this month, the Government will start writing to pensioners in Swindon, to ask them to choose a new payment method.

Now the TV adverts will try to convince the elderly that continuing to pick up payments at their post office is old-fashioned.

Malcolm Wicks, a pensions minister, said OAPs who opted for a bank or building society account would be able to withdraw money in many more places. And he said the new system was safer, because it made life harder for fraudsters.

But Mr Gray said: "It is unbelievable that the government is spending £25 million of public funds to bully pensioners into doing something they don't want to do.

"There are millions of pensioners who prefer to get their pensions in cash, using their pension book, at their local post office and it's wicked to try to force them to open a bank account.

"And it's also disgraceful because this will have a devastating effect on rural and urban sub-post offices."

Separate radio adverts, which started on Tuesday, will target people receiving jobseeker's allowance, incapacity benefit and income support.

Dave Fenwick, sub postmaster of Poetsfield Post Office in Gainsbor-ough Avenue, Wootton Bassett, said: "It is a disgrace they are advertising for people to get their benefits paid into bank accounts.

"This campaign is not going to help business. It is not going to get people flooding through the doors."

But Liz Bishop, who runs Lydiard Millicent Post Office Stores, does not think the advertising campaign will adversely affect her business.

She said: "It means a greater choice about where people get money out."

So far one million people have opted to be paid through bank and building society accounts, while only 200,000 have chosen a post office card account.But the Government has admitted it will have to retain the pension book or giro system for people who cannot or simply refuse to adapt to the changes.

Anyone can get further information on the shake-up by ringing (0800) 107 2000.