A POST Office in north Durham is being moved from a village hall to an off-licence.

Services will no longer be offered at Craghead Village Hall, near Stanley, when it moves to Craghead Off-Licence and Foodstore on Standerton Terrace.

It will be open from 8am-8pm everyday, instead of 9am-5.30pm on weekdays with a half day on Wednesday.

Suzanne Richardson, Post Office 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.

“People will now have more choice of when to visit with earlier opening, later closing, no closing for lunch and service on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and Sunday.”

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.

All staff will be trained to professional standards of service and security.

Ms Richardson said: “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 and will secure services for the future.”

The date for the relocation is yet to be confirmed.

Posters will be displayed inside the current Post Office in Craghead Village Hall when the decision is made.