A DARLINGTON Post Office is moving to new premises to become a modern ‘main’ open-plan branch with longer opening hours.

The move will see the Harrowgate Hill Post Office relocate 400 meters away from its present North Road site to a new base at M & B Thompson Premier Store.

It is part of major modernisation programme across the Post Office network and will increase opening hours at the branch by an extra 56 and a half hours a week.

The current Harrowgate Hill Post Office will close at 12.30pm on Saturday, June 7 and the new-look branch will open at 1pm on Monday, June 9.

Post Office regional network manager Adrian Wales said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Darlington and we are confident that this new modern Post Office will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future.

“This modernisation is part of a major investment programme, the largest in the history of the Post Office and marks a commitment to no more branch closure programmes.”

Under the current Parliament the Government has committed £1.34bn for the Post Office network to update branches and protect them from closure.

In November the Government announced a further £640m investment in the Post Office network from 2015 to 2018.