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A new, permanent post office has opened in Wigan town centre.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by the borough’s Mayor, Coun Marie Morgan, at what used to be the Co-op Bank at 10 Market Street.

It followed months of speculation as to where the base will be since its previous one – in the now defunct WHSmith store on Standishgate – closed.

Customers in the meantime had been using a temporary unit in the Grand Arcade.

The Mayor of Wigan Coun Marie Morgan, right, is the first customer at the new Wigan Post Office, pictured with postmaster Arif Matadar

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The temporary location had two Post Office counters, whereas the new one has three: two full screened and an open-plan counter alongside the retail counter.

It is the same experienced postmaster, Arif Matadar, who is running the new outlet.

This relocated branch also offers additional services including a comprehensive range of Travel Money, On Demand Travel Insurance and Passport Check & Send.

Coun Morgan, centre, cuts the ribbon. She is pictured with Post Office area manager Victoria Allsop, left, and postmaster Arif Matadar, right. The new permanent outlet is on Market Street.

The opening hours will remain as Monday to Friday: 9am to 5.30pm; Saturday: 9am to 2pm.

As many will remember, for generations the town’s general post office was based on Wallgate.

But in the summer of 2019 it closed its doors for the last time as the Post Office carried out national cutbacks. There had been fears that the town centre would lose its services altogether but it moved into’s WHSmith’s until that retailer itself announced it was pulling out Wigan because it could no longer make ends meet.

In the meantime, pub tycoon Tony Callaghan has announced plans to convert the Wallgate premises into a “city bar”, function rooms and offices.

Mayor opens Wigan town centre's newly relocated post office