CHERRY Orchard Post Office in Worcester is set for a “vibrant new style” and will re-launch with extended opening hours after a brief closure for refurbishment.

Work to modernise the store in Bath Road will start on Wednesday, November 5, at 5.30pm, and the new service will re-open on Friday, November 7, at 1pm.

Post office services will not be available during this period of work but The Co-operative Food retail store will remain open.

Updates to the facility will include a combination counter with the post office terminal sitting alongside the retail till, thus enabling customers to access mail services during the full store opening hours.

Clare Downs, head of operations at The Midcounties Co-operative, which runs the post office, said: “As a community retailer we are delighted to be welcoming customers to our newly refurbished branch.

“Local residents and small business customers will be able to access a wide range of post office services during our extended opening hours - 64 hours a week more than previously offered.”

Cherry Orchard Post Office will be open Monday to Saturday from 6am to 10pm and on Sundays from 7am to 9pm, enabling members of the public to withdraw cash, order travel money, top-up mobile phones and post letters during these hours.

Alan Ridoutt, area manager at Post Office Limited, said: “We know how important post office services are to residents in Worcester and we are confident that this vibrant new-style post office at the heart of the community will be popular.

“The modernisation is part of a major government investment programme that is enabling us to continue investing in the post office network and to map out a bold growth strategy through to the end of the decade.”