More than 100 Post office branches and some 1,000 jobs are at risk is undergoing a major overhaul as the group seeks to increase postmaster pay by £250m over five years.

The Post Office revealed that it was looking download 115 directly owned branches within its network of 11,500, which could see them transferred to retail partners or mailmasters, or potentially closed.

Around 1,000 workers are employed across all branches, while the Post Office also confirmed that hundreds more roles are threatened at its headquarters as it seeks to optimize administrative operations.

Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the restructuring will also offer a “new deal for postmasters” by increasing their share of revenue.

The plans will give them a greater say in running the business as it seeks to overcome the Horizon IT scandal in which hundreds of deputy directors were wrongly convicted, Railton added.

The plans, which are subject to government funding, would double average branch pay by 2030, with £120m in extra pay at the end of the first year.

Railton made the announcement at the company’s London headquarters on Wednesday in a speech to postmasters across the country, as well as retail partners and post office staff.

He said: “The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from the mistakes of the past and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters.

“We can and will restore the pride of working for a company with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal.”

He added that the reform also “begins a new phase of partnership during which we will strengthen the voice of the postmaster in the running and daily operations of the company, so that they are represented from the front line to the boardroom.”

It follows a strategic review launched by Railton in May, but is dependent on funding talks with the government, which the Post Office said were “positive and ongoing”.

The government is also said to have been consulted about the possibility of transferring ownership of the network to thousands of subpostmasters across the country.

The 115 branches at risk are Crown post offices located in city centers and staffed by post office employees.

They are the only remaining branches directly owned by the Post Office, down from around 400 in 2010.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “The plan aims to create a new operating model for the business which means ensuring the Post Office has the right organizational design.”

But the Communication Workers Union (CWU) called on the post office to halt the plans and for the Government to intervene.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of post offices in the immediate aftermath of the Horizon scandal is as tone-deaf as it is immoral.

“CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal, and for them to now fear for their jobs before Christmas is another cruel attack.”