The Post Office is set to move Honiton Post Office from its current location to create a modern open-plan branch with seven-days-a-week service for customers.

The new location for the branch is WHSmith (109 High Street), 100 metres from its current site at 64 High Street.

The new branch will continue to provide the same wide range of services, with the exception of a cash machine.

However the Post Office intends to install an external cash machine, but this is subject to survey and planning permission.

Roger Gale, general manager for the Post Office’s Crown branch network said that the change would help to ensure the branch is ‘commercially viable into the future’ and therefore protect Post Office services for customers in Honiton.

“Our customers’ needs continue to change and we are responding to that, taking the right action to sustain our services for years to come,” said Mr Gale.

The Post Office’s final plans for Honiton Post Office have been shaped following a six-week public consultation.

“We have listened carefully to people’s views and we realise that access to the Post Office and parking close by is important for many people, including disabled people or those with limited mobility. We have taken into account that on market days this part of the High Street is busier with shoppers,” Mr Gale added.

“However we are satisfied that the pavement running outside the WHSsmith store is wide and the market is complies with the relevant traffic and pedestrian regulations, and that access to the store will not be compromised.

“WHSmith already operates around 100 Post Office branches throughout the UK and we have been successfully working with them for nearly ten years. They have a proven record of running Post Offices with consistently high levels of customer service.”

The new branch will have three counters and two self-service kiosks, with opening hours from 9am until 5.30pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 2pm on Sundays - four hours more a week than currently.

“We are committed to remaining on high streets and at the heart of communities. We are making changes right across our network to enable us to do so,” said Mr Gale.

“That means adapting to the needs of our customers, who want flexibility and choice about how and when they do business with us, whether that is face to face or on the web.”

The Post Office has modernised thousands of Post Office branches over the past few years, providing customers with longer week day opening hours and becoming the largest UK retailer open on Sundays.

The last day of service at the current branch is Wednesday, August 10. The new branch will open from 9am on 11 August.