A POST Office branch is opening in a town - seven months after one closed down.

Councillors and politicians in Oswaldtwistle have been campaigning since news broke that the Post Office would close its counter in the McColl’s supermarket in February.

It meant that residents had to travel to the Post Office in the Spar on Thwaites Road.

However, Post Office chiefs have announced that a branch will open in Thrifty’s store on Union Road later this month.

Cllr Sara Britcliffe, who represents the St Andrews ward, said: “It is great news.

“We have got no banks in the town since Lloyds went and it meant that McColl’s was popular because of the location.

“It was right in the centre of the high street and I was campaigning to have another one there.

“Perhaps it may persuade the Post Office bosses that they need another branch in the high street.

“It is vital for our residents, especially when elderly people need to get money.

“We need this kind of service and it is a real shame that we have had to wait months for an announcement.

“People had to travel on the bus to get to the other branch.”

The Post Office in Thrifty’s will open on Wednesday, October 23.

Cllr Britcliffe added: “In Oswaldtwistle we have one of the highest rates of elderly people so they really need it.

“I think it has had an impact on them and hopefully they will be happy about the news.

“We are not a dying town and we need to be keeping vital services such as post offices and other services so they want to come here.

“I had asked local businesses when McColl’s were closing to try to find another place for it to go and even tried to get into the local library.”