THE Post Office says it is ‘working hard’ to reopen Weymouth’s main branch after its sudden closure at the weekend.

Customers were shocked to find the shop closed on Saturday, after operators Smartpost were kicked out of the premises by the landlord amid a dispute about non-payment of rent. It has put 17 jobs at risk.

The Post Office says it wants to move back into the shop and hopes staff can be retained.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of Weymouth Post Office. We would like to reassure customers that we are working hard to restore the service to the community as soon as possible and are committed to maintaining services in the area.

“We are working with the landlord to reopen the branch as soon as possible with a new temporary postmaster. We would try to make sure we could keep everything as is, including jobs.”

Customers are being advised to use the post offices in Abbotsbury Road and Dorchester Road.

Steve Bassett, the postmaster at the post office in Abbotsbury Road which is housed within a Londis store, has welcomed the extra custom.

He said: “We have laid on extra staff and we’ve seen new customers we don’t recognise.

“We do have the space to accommodate more people coming in to our shop as we have three serving positions, so the extra customers are really a benefit for us.”

Weymouth’s main branch moved to new premises in St Thomas Street in January 2013 as part of a Post Office modernisation programme across the network designed to make it easier for customers to do business, through longer opening hours and open plan environments.

Simon Thompson from Dorset Community Action said the closure is disappointing.

He said: “The post office was opened with a big fanfare, a lot of money was put in to the branch and it is a big improvement on what we had before.

He added: “It would take many months to find new premises and with Christmas coming up a lot of people will be sending parcels in a few weeks’ time – the smaller post offices in the town may struggle with demand.”

Nigel Reed from Weymouth BID said: “I was shocked and upset to hear this has happened.

“We don’t know the full story about how or why this has happened but we are here to help anyone who needs it.”