THE Post Office is planning to move one of Bradford city centre's branches into The Broadway shopping centre to save money.

Plans have been made to close the branch on Darley Street and move it to new premises.

The new post office will be in the WHSmith store in The Broadway and will be run by the branch's existing staff.

The new facility will be an open plan and modern post office, with four open counters and one screened counter, as well as two self-service kiosks.

General manager of the Post Office Crown Network Roger Gale said the Post Office was committed to keeping its services accessible.

"We know it is hugely important to people that we keep our services on the high street and this proposal means we can continue to do that into the future," he said.

"Our customers will be offered the same range of services and our collaboration with WHSmith helps secure the long-term viability of services for local customers.

"We are making sure we take the right course of action to sustain services for years to come, and we must adapt to the changing needs of our customers.

"People want a convenient and flexible choice of when and how they do business with us, whether that is face to face, on the web or through new initiatives such as self-service kiosks."

Explaining the decision to move to the WHSmith store, a spokesman for the Post Office said: "Our Crown Post Office branches - around 300 of our overall network of 11,500 Post Offices - are directly run by the Post Office and we want to keep our presence on high streets, but in some locations factors such as property costs mean that in the future some of our Crown branches will not be sustainable.

"Therefore, in some areas we are franchising - most of our network in already franchised/ run on agency basis - and in some, like Bradford, we are moving to a 'concession arrangement' with retailers such as WHSmith, whereby we continue to run the Post Office but from an area within their store.

"This will help protect the service for customers in the future, because we can provide services in a more cost effective way; the same services will be available, and it will be convenient for customers."

The public consultation period for the planned move is open until June 1. To have your say, email comments@postoffice.co.uk, call 03457 223344, visit postofficeviews.co.uk or send a letter to FREEPOST Your Comments.