GOOD news has been delivered to Portland with the Post Office announcing it will resume a service in an Easton newsagent.

Easton residents, who lost their post office in Reforne in December, will be able to use the new post office at Martin McColl in Straits from tomorrow.

The Post Office is to trial a local outlet at the store for a year to determine whether it meets local community needs.

Post Office field change adviser Matt Walls said: “We are confident that the appointment of a new agent to operate a Post Office service incorporated into Martin McColl is the best way to meet the needs of our customers in the local community.

“The Post Office looks forward to welcoming customers to the new style branch and we feel sure that they will enjoy both the modern look and feel as well as the greater convenience provided by extended opening hours.”

The company said the outcome of the one year trial would be reliant on customers using the service regularly.

Community organisation Dorset Community Action (DCA) offered a £500 start-up grant to an Easton business willing to host the Post Office.

DCA’s Simon Thompson welcomed the new service in Easton.

He said: “The Post Office at Weston is a difficult one to get to and when the Easton branch closed it put the service under a lot of pressure, causing long queues and inconvenience.

“The new Post Office Local is what people want and I hope they will be happy with it.”

Several island businesses applied to Dorset Community Action, but the start-up grant is not needed by national chain Martin McColl.

Mr Thompson added: “The great thing is the Post Office will eventually be open from 6am until 6pm and at weekends, which makes it a lot more convenient.

“Martin McColl has done a good job to improve the inside of its store and it seems more spacious - this is a great solution.

“We are very grateful that they have taken it on.”

Weymouth and Portland borough councillor Margaret Leicester, who represents Easton, said: “We desperately need to have a Post Office in Easton and people will use it.

“The only thing that I am concerned about is people parking outside Martin McColl, where there are double yellow lines and a zebra crossing. As long as we can keep an eye on that, then it should be fine.

“At the moment, people have to traipse over to Weston and that’s a huge inconvenience.

“Residents have been really inconvenienced by the loss of the post office and now they will feel they have been listened to.”