A NEW Post Office branch is set to officially open in Oswaldtwistle on Wednesday.

Based in Thrifty's on Union Road, it will be 550 metres from the previous branch at McColl's, which closed in earlier this year.

Post Offices bosses said the change will mean they can offer longer opening hours and a retail service on Sunday at the new site.

Christine Marshall, Post Office change 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.

She added: “We are confident that this vibrant new-style Post Office at the heart of the local community will meet customer needs.”

Councillors and politicians in Oswaldtwistle had 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.

That campaign proved successful, with Post offices bosses announcing its new counter location on Union earlier 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."

Residents are invited to the launch of the new counter at 1pm on Wednesday. The new opening hours are 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 10pm on Sundays.