A BASINGSTOKE Post Office is to be revamped and will open for more than double the current number of hours each week.

Kingsmill Post Office, in Anstey Close, Cranbourne, will be transformed into a local-style, open-plan branch and will be run by a new operator, agreed by the current subpostmaster.

Opening hours will increase to 111 each week – Monday to Saturday from 6am until 10pm and on Sundays from 7am until 10pm. This is an extra 65 hours a week.

The branch is currently open from 9am until 5.30pm Monday to Friday, 9am until 12.30pm on Saturdays, and is closed on Sundays.

The Post Office will close for refurbishment on April 8 at 5.30pm, and will reopen on April 10 at 1pm.

Peter Wilkinson, Post Office area manager, said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Cranbourne, and we are confident this new modern Post Office service will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future.

“This modernisation is part of a major investment programme – the largest in the history of the Post Office – and marks a commitment to no-more-branch-closure programmes.”

The Government has committed £1.34billion to the Post Office network to make sure no more Post Offices have to close, and to update branches.

In November last year, the Government announced a further £640million investment in the Post Office network, from 2015 to 2018. Nationwide, the investment will see up to 8,000 branches modernised.