AN EAST Durham post office is to be modernised and will offer extended opening hours, it has been revealed.

The Post Office is to upgrade High Colliery Post Office, Stockton Road, Seaham, to create a modern open-plan branch.

The service will be launched on Thursday September 8 and will be available during the store’s opening hours, from 8am to 10pm, from Monday to Sunday.

Residents and small business customers will be able to get access to special delivery, local collect, home shopping returns, online banking cash deposits and withdrawals.

Other services include withdrawals using a Post Office card account and sending funds abroad using Moneygram. Customers can also pay bills, pre-order travel money, apply for travel insurance and top up mobile phones.

High Colliery Post Office will need to close at 5.30pm on Monday, August 29, for the refurbishment to take place. During this short period of closure services will be available from any convenient post office branch, including the Deneside Post Office, 53 The Avenue, Deneside, Seaham and the Seaham Post Office, 38 Church Street, Seaham.

Area manager Dave Ogleby 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 local community will meet customer needs.

“This modernisation is part of a major investment programme, the largest in the history of the Post Office.”