A three-year battle to improve post office facilities in Rayleigh town centre has been won, with the announcement a new counter service is to open in the High Street.

Residents have called for better facilities in the town since the main post office closed more than three years ago, leaving them with counter services in Martins Newsagents.

Now the Post Office has announced it is to open another counter service in addition to the facilities in Martins, nearer the site of the old branch at the Weir end of the High Street.

David Barnes, chairman of Rayleigh Town Council's town centre committee, said it was brilliant news for the town.

He said: "It is great because that end of the town suffered when the post office closed."

"That is why we invested more money in extending the town centre up there, and now to have a post office there is excellent news - it has made the campaign worthwhile."

Mr Barnes added the council would ideally have liked the facilities put back in the old building, although that wasn't possible because it had been sold.

Councillors held extensive meetings with representatives of the post office to come to an amicable decision over facilities after they were removed from the old site in 1996."

Gerry Jewson, area manager of Post Office Counters, said: "We have been monitoring our customer base at the post office in Martins for a number of months, and with new services being introduced on a regular basis, the five counter position is now not large enough to meet our demands."

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