A TEMPORARY Post Office is to open in Minehead to replace the branch in The Avenue which closed on Tuesday (June 9).

The new service will be open full-time and is intended to bridge the gap until a permanent Post Office reopens in a new location, possibly in the autumn.

An applicant to run a permanent branch is said to now be in the final stages of the application process.

The Avenue branch was due to have shut on Saturday (June 13) with the closure of the Co-op supermarket which houses it, but stopped trading on Tuesday after the postmaster resigned.

The Co-op is closing following the refusal by Somerset Council of a planning application for its demolition and replacement with a block of McCarthy Stone retirement flats and a smaller, convenience size store.

The supermarket gave notice to the Post Office that its lease would be ended with the June 13 store closure.

The loss of Minehead’s only Post Office leaves Dunster as the nearest branch offering counter service for Minehead and Alcombe residents.

But, a Post Office spokesperson told the Free Press: “We understand that Post Office services are very important to our customers in Minehead.

“While we finalise the plans for the new permanent branch, we are also making plans to open a temporary Post Office, which will operate full-time.

“We are working as quickly as possible to get the branch up and running.

“The opening date for the temporary branch has not yet been confirmed, but we will share further details about this, as well as the location, over the coming weeks.

“We apologise to our customers who need to access Post Office services in the interim.”

Post Office corporate partner lead Tracey Newton-Crofts said: “We are working hard to keep any period of closure to a minimum.”