THE Tavistock Post Office and Spar shop at Abbey Place received the stamp of approval last Thursday from West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox.

He had the honour of officially opening the post office, which has been modernised as a new style open-plan branch.

Customers to the shop and post office will see opening hours extended by 50 hours a week and trading hours almost doubled and a modern open-plan retail environment with a full range of post office services available seven days a week.

Subpostmaster Ravi Jhangiani, post office manager Julie Payne and store manager Wendy Rich welcomed customers old and new along with Amanda McGinley, Post Office field change advisor.

Mr Cox said: 'I know what a vital resource Tavistock Post Office is for the local community, so I am delighted to officially open this new-look post office. The opening hours are now terrific and will make life far easier for all my constituents to do their post office transactions. I really am impressed by the changes at this branch.'

The opening hours are Monday to Saturday 7am to 10pm and Sunday between 8am to 10pm.

Subpostmaster Mr Jhangiani said: 'Tavistock Post Office now looks great‚ bigger and more roomy.

'The layout of the shop has changed‚ the post office is more centrally located at the back of the shop‚ you can see it as soon as you walk in. Shelving has also been lowered so the store looks more open and there is much better use of space.

'The longer opening hours will be very convenient for customers. People used to come into the shop out of post office hours to see if they could do their transactions, well now they can do many of their transactions before or after work.'