A VITAL service is set to return to a Hampshire village as the Post Office has announced it will be opening in a new location. 

Waltham Chase Post Office is to re-open next month at Waltham Chase Village Stores, in Winchester Road, Waltham Chase. 

The previous branch at Premier, also in Winchester Road, closed in June 2021 - a couple of months before the whole store closed for good. 

The former postmaster Adrian Segovia won awards for his work during lockdown - but the shop was not viable to continue trading after they lost the Post Office and it closed in December. It is still empty. 

However, the Post Office said that it was delighted to be returning service to the village in the new location. 

And the Patel family which runs the store say they are equally delighted to be able to provide the service.

Parth Patel said: "We are happy to serve the community of Waltham Chase." 

Post Office network provision lead Graham Brander said: “We are delighted to be restoring a Post Office to this area as we know how important a Post Office is to a community.”

The replacement branch will open on Monday, October 24 at 1pm.

The opening hours of the new branch will be Monday to Saturday: 8am until 6pm. This will offer 60 hours of Post Office service a week.

There is a car park outside of the entrance.

There will also be an opportunity to give feedback which will close on October 14. Customers can share their views during the consultation online at postofficeviews.co.uk with the branch code 262546.

Submissions can also be made via email to comments@postoffice.co.uk, by post to Freepost YOUR COMMENTS, or by telephone 03452 66 01 15 or Textphone 03457 22 33 55.