A SHOP is to be “majorly redesigned” to accommodate a Post Office if final proposals are accepted.

Last year, plans were drawn up to relocate Northallerton’s Post Office on the High Street to a site within the town’s WH Smith.

In October, the Post Office said it had ‘agreed in principle’ to transfer counter services from its purpose-built site to the store.

However, customers raised concerns over the suitability of WH Smith which has been described as “poorly-lit” and of a “cramped-nature.”

The MP for Northallerton, Rishi Sunak, sent a letter to the director of WH Smith in which he raised these concerns.

Mr Sunak sought clarification over how the future store would operate, given the makeup of the shop’s layout.

The current Post Office is described as regularly having “queues approaching the door.”

In response WH Smith’s company director, Mark Sabin said the Northallerton store would be “majorly” remodelled to accommodate the town’s Post Office customers.

In his reply to Mr Sunak, which promised the store changes, Mr Sabin said: “Should the Post Office proceed with this plan, a significant amount of physical changes will be made to the store.

“This will involve taking out a large area of fixtures and product displays – to ensure that there is appropriate ease of access and egress for customers using the new Post Office counters – appropriate clear access routes through to the service counters.”

In his letter, Mr Sabin also said WH Smith operated more than 130 Post Office branches within their stores and wanted to “assure our future customers that we are well versed in the running of efficient Post Office branches.”

Mr Sunak said he welcomed the assurances made by Mr Sabin, ahead of the relocation proposals which close on March 6.