A NEW post office has opened in Christchurch, much to the joy of residents and businesses in the area, ten year after it closed.

The new branch, situated inside Londis on Stour Road, officially opened its doors on Tuesday and will be open seven days a week from 6.30am to 10pm.

The much-needed service reopens in the same shop that lost it some ten years ago, even after 1,600 people have signed a petition objecting its closure.

Matt Wall, Post Office Change Manager, said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to pay their bills, withdraw cash from their bank accounts, and send and collect their mail at a time and place that suits them best.

The new branch aims to offer more convenience to Post Office customers by extending the availability of Post Offices services in the area.

Matt continues: “We know how important our services are to customers and are confident that this brand-new Post Office alongside Christchurch, Tuckton and Stourvale will ensure that people in this area of Christchurch have easy access to our services.”

The new branch at Stour Road offers customers a wide range of Post Office services, from posting letters and parcels to collecting and returning online shopping items. Customers can also use the banking services including cash withdrawals and balance enquiries.

The opening of the new branch follows a saga of closures and reopenings of branches in Christchurch over the last several years which has frustrated residents

In 2008, residents were outraged as the post office was threatened with closure. As well as 1,600 signatures on a petition, the Post Office received written objections from residents in sheltered accommodation in the area including the then Riverland Court and Homestour House.

The branch on Saxon Square opened in January 2018, Christchurch town centre had been without a post office since April 2016. Now the town had two within a 15-minute walk of each other.

Saxon Square’s post office closed just six months after it opened, along with two other branches in Poole's Dolphin Shopping Centre and Bournemouth's West Hill Road, which were later found to be owned by the same agent, Hiren Modi.

The Saxon Road post office then reopened two months later with a temporary postmaster.

Mayor of Christchurch Lesley Dedman said: “It is something that has been sourly missed in area and it is really good to see it back.

“It is a service that is really needed in our area, especially considering as though we have an older population than most.”