THE proposed move of Johnston Post Office has been given the go ahead.

The Post Office consulted on the move a few doors up from its current St Peters Road site to Nisa Local earlier in the year and a date is now to be set for the change.

The service will be provided at a combination counter in the store, where the Post Office terminal will sit alongside the retail till.

A Post Office spokesman added: “As with any other branch, we have robust security procedures in place, and anyone handling Post Office transactions, including new staff, will be fully trained on all operational and service issues, including customer privacy to ensure they meet Post Office standards.”

Post Office services will be available during the store’s opening hours, 6.30am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 7am to 10pm on Sunday.

The opening hours which will increase by an extra 40 hours and 30 minutes a week, will ensure that the branch is more convenient, as people will now have more choice of when to visit.

Local residents and small business customers will be able to access the wide range of Post Office and mails services, including Special Delivery, Local Collect, home shopping returns, and make online banking cash deposits and withdrawals, withdrawals using a Post Office Card Account, send funds abroad using Moneygram, pay bills, pre-order travel money, apply for travel insurance and top up mobile phones.

Adrian Wales, regional manager, said: “We are making it easier for customers to get their cash, send and collect their mail and do their banking because we know how important these services are to local residents.

“We are confident that this vibrant new-style Post Office at the heart of the community will be popular. The modernisation is part of a major Government investment programme that is enabling us to continue investing in the Post Office network and to map out a bold growth strategy through to the end of the decade.”