Counter in shop offers longer opening hours, but is further away from Woolbrook and Sidford

A new post office has opened in Sidmouth to replace the Woolbrook branch, which closed in November last year.

It is based in a different location, Gilletts Spar in Temple Street.

It offers Post Office services from an open-plan till next to the retail counter, and is open from 7am till 10pm on Monday to Saturday, and 8am until 10pm on Sundays. As well as using its postal services, local residents and businesses will be able to make withdrawals and deposits into their Post Office bank accounts, send funds abroad, pay bills, obtain travel money and insurance, and top up mobile phones.

During a consultation on the new branch, local residents welcomed the prospect of restored Post Office services, but the councillor for the Woolbrook ward Michael Earthey said he would have preferred to see the branch closer to the original location. The distance from the original branch is 0.3 miles, which takes about seven minutes to walk.