WILLIAM Hague has given his seal of approval to a market town’s new-look post office.

The Richmond MP and Foreign Secretary said he was delighted by the Bedale branch’s revamp, which is part of national drive to modernise 6,000 post offices.

The branch’s customers will also see its opening hours being extended by 7.5 hours a week as the branch is now open Monday to Friday, from 8.30am to 5.30pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 5.30pm.

Ian Sykes, owner of Bedale Post Office and Fotostop, said: “We have had nothing but positive feedback from customers, which is fantastic.

“My team also really love it. The post office is now more spacious and looks very modern, and on the retail side by changing the layout of the photographic area we have made access easier and made more space for the cards, stationery and books that we sell.”

A spokesman for the Post Office, now independent of Royal Mail, said it was confident the future of the branch was more secure and better placed to meet the needs of the community.