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Post office return welcomed by residents

BBC / Naj Modak People outside Post Office for ribbon cutting ceremonyBBC / Naj Modak
The Bridge Street branch in Helmsley has been restored as a full-time post office

Residents in a market town in North Yorkshire have welcomed the reopening of a permanent post office.

The Bridge Street branch in Helmsley has been restored as a full-time post office after it closed in 2022 when the store it was located in suddenly ceased trading.

A part-time service had been located at the nearby Black Swan Hotel as a temporary solution.

North Yorkshire councillor George Jabbour cut the ribbon to reopen the service and said people in the town had been "waiting for this day for a very long time".

BBC / Naj Modak Customer in Post OfficeBBC / Naj Modak
The post office was temporarily based at the Black Swan Hotel but has now returned to Bridge Street

The original reopening date was scheduled for July before delays pushed it back.

Post Office external affairs manager for the north of England, Mark Gibson, said they had not expected the service to close at such short notice which had left them looking for a new postmaster and a temporary solution.

”Local residents have been concerned about the lack of Post Office Services.

“We’re really pleased that the owner of the Black Swan Hotel allowed us to put a temporary solution in there for a few days a week."

Mr Gibson said they were delighted to have the new permanent branch opened.

BBC / Naj Modak Jagadeesh Kandasami, North Yorkshire councillor George Jabbour and Caroline Frank, local resident and development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses in York and North YorkshireBBC / Naj Modak
Jagadeesh Kandasami (L) will be taking over the reigns as the new sub-postmaster at the Bridge Street branch of the Post Office

Sub-postmaster Jagadeesh Kandasami said it had taken him a year to prepare to open the service and the shop its part of and said people had been very supportive.

Councillor George Jabbour had campaigned for a solution to the lack of post office services and said it was an "essential service" for the town.

"People have been waiting for this day for a very long time.”

Caroline Frank, development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses in York and North Yorkshire, said it was "excellent news".

"It’s important that we maintain access to cash, it’s not just the postal service, it’s the cash services for businesses."

BBC / Naj Modak Local resident Janet HughesBBC / Naj Modak
Local resident Janet Hughes said it was "good to have a proper post office back"

Resident Janet Hughes said: “I think it’s wonderful and I used to work here and lost my job and it is lovely to see absolutely wonderful.

"It’s just what Helmsley needs.”

She said she felt the town had been in a "bit of a limbo" without the post office.

"It’s good to have a proper post office back especially at this time of year.”

Fellow resident Dawn Winchurch said she was “really happy” with the new service because it had been "two years too long".

She said she had missed the Post Office branch and would be using it regularly.”

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