THE Post Office has pledged to retain all its outlets in North Yorkshire ahead of expanding a market town’s branch which will open for 96 hours a week.

As part of plans to revamp its network, Thirsk Post Office will be closed from Monday at 5.30pm until Tuesday at 1pm, when it will reopen with four serving positions.

An open-plan retail counter at the Market Place branch will offer most post office services from 7am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday and 11pm to 5pm on Sundays, giving customers an extra 50 hours’ service every week.

A Post Office spokesman said the three other counters, which will be screened, will open according to demand, but are likely to be open from 9am to 5.30pm.

The move is understood to be partly a response to outline planning permission being granted for the nearby 925-home Sowerby Gateway estate and other developments.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We are aware of infrastructural developments in the area and this was also considered as we decided to proceed with the plans.

“With regard to other Post Office branches around Thirsk and North Yorkshire, and indeed across the whole of the UK, there are absolutely no plans to close any branches.”

Over the past 30 years the number of post offices in the UK has almost halved, although numbers have remained stable over the last few years.

In March 2001, there were 1,530 post offices in the Yorkshire region, but by March this year this had fallen by 35 per cent to 994.

The Government has stated that in return for funding of £1.34bn, Post Office Ltd must maintain a network of at least 11,500 branches and ensure 99 per cent of the UK population lives within three miles of their nearest post office outlet.

Guy Baragwanath, chairman of Thirsk and District Business Association, said the modernised post office would prove a boost for the town.

Mayor of Thirsk, Councillor Janet Watson, added: “It can only be beneficial for all users to have the increased opening hours and the additional open plan serving point especially with all the new housing developments in the area.”