Plans to move Melksham’s Post Office into a shop on Bank Street have been approved, with the new branch set to open in May.

The new location at the former Carpet Barn store is 250 metres from its current site at Church Street.

The current branch will close at 5.30pm on Friday May 2, with the new branch opening at 8am on Saturday May 3.

The move, which comes following a public consultation, is part of a major modernisation programme across the Post Office network designed to ensure Post Office branches are sustainable, profitable and no longer reliant on Government funding.

There will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the move.

Post Office Ltd has said it is working closely with colleagues to ensure their needs are met, whether a transfer to the new employer or redeployment in the Post Office. All staff have the legal right to transfer to the potential new operator if they wish under TUPE legislation.

Roger Gale, Crown Network General Manager, said: “We are committed to keeping a Post Office branch in Melksham and to maintaining the same levels of service for our customers.

"We believe the best way for us to do this is to change the way we operate it, so following the move it will be run by Crabb & Andrews Retail Ltd rather than by us directly.”

The new office will have four serving positions, with one screened and three open-plan counters.  The same range of Post Office services will be available.

Opening hours at the new location will be 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, which means customers will benefit from 14 extra hours of service every week.

Crabb & Andrews offer greeting cards, stationery, packaging and confectionery, and currently operate two Post Office branches from within their stores in Bristol.

The move comes after a six-week public consultation, during which Post Office Ltd also hosted a public customer forum to discuss the proposals.

Following the move of the Post Office, the Royal Mail Sorting Office will remain in its current location. This means that customers can continue to collect undelivered items of mail from the Sorting Office as they do currently.