Bermuda should have just three Post Offices in a bid to stem losses predicted to amount to $134 million over the next decade.

And the SAGE Commission said direct delivery to homes and businesses should end, with people picking up their mail at central collection points in each parish.

The SAGE Commission report said yesterday that the a decline in use and overstaffing of at least 80 percent — 100 staff — meant that cuts would have to be made.

It recommended one Post Office in Hamilton, with one each in the east and west of the island and an end to direct delivery to homes and businesses.

The report said: “Mail volumes at loss-making sub-Post Offices are projected to be insignificant by 2015.”

It added: “Given global trends to digital communication, the current business model for the Bermuda Post Office is not sustainable.”

The report said that the Post Office should build “cluster boxes” similar to the Bahamas and Cayman Islands, with one in each parish.

It added: “Once redundant sub Post Offices have been closed, the buildings in which they are located should be sold, rented or repurposed.

“The preferred option would be to sell the buildings and use funds raised to pay down the national debt.”

And it added staffing should be cut to the level needed to run three offices and deliver mail to central collection points in the parishes.

Figures for 2011 showed that mail volumes in Bermuda were falling by one million pieces — seven percent — every year.

The Post Office has lost a total of $56 million over the last decade, compared to a $7 million loss and $1 million profit in prior decades.