West Ham MP Lyn Brown officially re-opened Plaistow post office following its refurbishment.

The post office at 360-362 Barking Road will also be open for an extra 20 hours a week.

After cutting the ribbon on Friday, Lyn Brown said: “Lyn Brown said: “I am delighted to be opening this newly-refurbished post office. It looks modern, spacious and professional. This post office is vital to the local community and I am confident the improvements will be warmly welcomed by my constituents. The extended opening hours will be vastly more convenient as customers can now visit their Post Office before or after work.”

Subpostmaster Mr Lalit Kirpal said: “The branch now looks very professional. Customers are very impressed with the new fresh look of the Post Office. It looks modern and spacious. People love the extended opening hours as there is so much flexibility about when people now do their Post Office transactions.”

Plaistow Post Office has four serving positions - three screened counter positions and a Post Office serving point provided for use at the retail counter. This is a new concept for delivering Post Office services with Post Office products and services available alongside retail transactions during shop opening hours.

Opening hours have been extended by an extra 20 hours a week including Saturday afternoon, plus earlier opening and later closing from Monday to Saturday.

The refurbishment is part of a major modernisation programme across the Post Office network designed to make it easier for customers to do business, through longer opening hours and modern open plan environments.