DINAS Powys residents have opposed plans to move the Murch Post Office to a nearby newsagent.

Proposals have been put forward to move the existing post office on Camms Corner to the McColls newsagent on Castle Drive, a distance of 320 metres away from the current branch, pending a successful consultation period.

The new post office, which is proposing to open in January next year, would more than double opening hours each week, by providing longer weekday, all-day Saturday and a new Sunday service.

The 51 extra hours would mean that the Post Office was providing services for 97 hours a week.

But local residents have raised concerns about accessibility and said there isn’t enough room in the newsagents to provide a post office service.

One person wrote on the Dinas Powys Pictures Facebook page: “What about people with pushchairs? They can’t leave babies outside. Then there are pensioners with their buggies and all the extra disabled parking they will need at the front.”

Another added: “I’ve got a baby and I struggle to get in there with the pram at the best of times” while others branded the decision “impractical”, “a sad state of affairs” and said they would use other village post office instead.

One local resident, visiting the post office on Tuesday, said: “It’s a shame that it’s moving as it provides a really good service. My dad has got dementia and they always look after him.”

She added: “I think the older people will miss it aswell as it’s got all the clothing and other things there.”

Dr Charles Jones, who was also visiting the post office, added: “I don’t know how they are going to fit it all into McColls.”

Noreen Davies, who has been the post-mistress for the last five years, said that the newsagents met all the Post Office requirements for space and added about the move: “It’s sad as it has been here for a long time, but at the end of the day it will still be providing a service and it will be doing that with longer opening hours.

“It’s going to be open from 6am until 8pm and will be providing 95 per cent of the services we do here.”

She added: “I’m really grateful to the community as they have been really supportive over the years and I would like to thank them all.”

The Post Office said in a press release that the move would create “a modern open-plan local style branch with significantly extended opening hours for customers”.

It added: “Post Office is inviting customers and interested parties to give their comments on the move in a six week public consultation. The new service is proposed to open in January 2015, subject to a successful consultation.”

Post Office Regional Network Manager for Wales, Adrian Wales, said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to local residents and we are confident that this new modern branch will make it easier for our customers to do business with us and also secure services for the future”.

He added: “This change is part of a major programme of modernisation and investment taking place across the Post Office network, the largest in the history of the Post Office, which will see up to 8,000 branches modernised and additional investment in over 3,000 community and outreach branches. This investment makes a commitment to no more branch closure programmes.”

During the public consultation Post Office Ltd welcomes feedback on any issues customers would like considered before a final decision is taken on this proposal. The consultation will close on November 27. Submissions can be made on the proposed move through an online questionnaire at postofficeviews.co.uk, by entering the code for this branch: 27761199. Alternatively, submissions can be made during the consultation by post at Freepost Your Comments to Post Office Ltd, National Consultation Team, Wealdstone Post Office, 1st Floor, Admin, 4-12 Headstone Drive, Harrow, HA3 5QL, via email to comments@postoffice.co.uk, via the Customer Helpline: 08457 22 33 44 or Textphone 08457 22 33 55.