Proposals to modernise Sutton’s post office have been rubber-stamped by officials.

The Post Office says its new Sutton branch will be open an extra 59 hours per week, including Saturday and Sunday, but a number of services will no longer be offered at the branch as a result.

The village branch, in High Street, will close for refurbishment on Saturday, February 22, at 12:30pm and will re-open on Friday, February 28, at 1pm.

While the restoration is taking place, Post Office has promised to provide a free bus service from outside Sutton post office to Haddenham’s Post Office between February 24-28.

The first bus will leave Sutton at 10am, every hour on the hour until 4pm. The return journey from Haddenham is at 10.45am and every hour until 4.45pm.

The changes are part of major modernisation programme across the Post Office network designed to make it easier for customers to do business, through longer opening hours and modern open plan environments.

Post Office regional manager Will Russell, said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Sutton and we are confident that this new modern branch will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future.

“We are taking the unusual step to provide a temporary bus service during this short closure of this branch as there is no bus service to the nearest alternative post office.”

As part of the Sutton upgrade, some services currently offered will be scrapped, including Parcelforce international parcels, Transcash bill payment, NS&I savings bonds, on demand travel insurance and payment by cheque for everything except car tax.