A VILLAGE Post Office is due to close temporarily next month to allow for extensive refurbishment.

There will be a full refit of the shop at The Cross, Child Okeford, and rebranding to a Spar store.

The existing full-screened Post Office counter will remain in situ. A Post Office counter will also be added alongside the retail counter.

There are plans to extend the opening hours to include Sundays.

The branch will temporarily close on Saturday, July 3, at 1pm. It is envisaged that the work will take approximately two weeks to complete, and the branch is due to re-open on Monday 19 July at 8.30am. During the temporary closure customers can access Post Office services from any convenient branch, including: • Okeford Fitzpaine Post Office, The Cross, Okeford Fitzpaine, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 0RF • Iwerne Minster Post Office, Iwerne Minster, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8LW Antoinette Chitty, Post Office Network Provision Lead, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers during the work. The safety of our customers is of paramount, therefore, to allow for the building work to take place, it will be necessary for the service to close temporarily.”

There are also future plans to build on an extension for a café. The whole project is to make the shop the hub for the community to meet and use.