Glamis Post Office, where the Queen Mother bought her sweeties as a child, has been reprieved from closure following a high-profile campaign to save it.

The post office, which is also a shop and tearoom, was one of 79 in Aberdeen and Tayside earmarked for closure or downgrading as part of the UK-wide network change programme which aims to implement the government's measures to modernise and reshape the Post Office by closing up to 2500 branches and turning a further 500 into outreach service points.

Glamis was among those which were due to be reduced to an outreach service but a campaign was launched to save the full range of facilities at the branch. The Queen Mother's second cousin, Mary Dowager Countess of Strathmore, joined the battle to save it and today it will be confirmed that the campaign has been victorious.

It is understood that another post office in the area may have to have its services reduced to counter the fact that Glamis Post Office has won a reprieve.

Hugh Nicoll, who runs the Glamis Post Office, tearoom and shop with his wife Ann, last night welcomed the decision made to save the service. "We are delighted and we now hope we may be able to expand the services, perhaps by handling road tax," he said. "This is the only shop left in Glamis and it is the heart of the community," he said.

Weir, SNP MP for Angus, who spearheaded the campaign, said: "The reprieve of Glamis after a fantastic campaign is very welcome. The post office is vital to the community. During the campaign there was publicity about the fact that it was the Queen Mother's post office but the real campaign was about the importance to the community.

"That village has a tremendous amount of visitors in the summer and if the post office had gone the chances are the shop would have gone, so it would have been a huge blow. Also several businesses have opened up in the area and small businesses in rural areas rely on the small post offices."

It is understood that consultation on the closure of Lunan Head Post Office near Forfar will begin.

There has been a post office in Glamis for two centuries and it provides a service to more than 1000 people from Glamis and the surrounding area. It is also used by many of the 130,000 visitors who visit the castle and the village.

The Queen Mother was a regular visitor, as was Princess Margaret whose birth was eventually registered at Glamis Post Office.

The countess had earlier said the Queen Mother "would be turning in her grave" at the thought of the closure. "She would be horrified and so sad because she was a very practical person who would have known it would kill the village if you don't have a centre," she said.

Full details of all the closures in the area will be published today. It is understood that a campaign to save three Aberdeen post offices has failed.

Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen South, expressed her disappointment about the news that the closure of post office branches at Mannofield, Nigg and Mount Street are to go ahead.

Another post office which has been reprieved is in Middlefield, one of Aberdeen's most deprived communities.

A campaign to save the office involved a 500 signature petition.