A POST Office in north Durham is planning to move to bigger premises, trebling the amount of hours it can trade.

Catchgate Post Office is proposing to move from its current location to further along North Road to create a modern open-plan branch with significantly extended opening hours for customers.

Customers and interested parties are being asked to give their comments on the move as part of public consultation, which ends on January 11.

Post Office regional network manager for the North-East, Sue Richardson, said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Catchgate and we are confident that this new modern branch will make it easier for our customers to do business with us and also secure services for the future.”

The plan involved creating an open plan counter with Post Office products and services available alongside retail transactions during shop opening hours, allowing services to be available for longer offering greater convenience to customers.

Opening hours at the proposed new location will be Monday to Friday 5am to 9pm and Sunday 6.30pm to 9pm.

Submissions can be made during the consultation by Freepost YOUR COMMENTS to Post Office Ltd, via email to comments@postoffice.co.uk, via the Customer Helpline: 08457-22-33-44 or Textphone 08457-22-33-55.