POST Office services in Hexham will be limited for a week, following confirmation that Beales is to close next week.

Hexham Outlet Centre, owned by Beales, which currently houses the post office, is to close on Tuesday.

The post office is to reopen at the new High Street Convenience Store, at 12 Battle Hill, on Monday, February 24.

Between the closure of Beales and the opening of the new store, a temporary mobile post office service will be provided on Friday, February 21 between 10am and 3pm. It will be located in the Hexham Abbey car park.

Customers are otherwise advised to use the post office in Corbridge or other post office services.

Beales went into administration last month, and although Hexham Outlet Centre had already announced it would close via its Facebook page, no date was confirmed until this week.

It came as Beales announced on Friday it would be closing 12 of its 23 stores imminently.

The joint administrators of the department store chain have confirmed that they remained in active discussions with interested parties regarding the sale of a number of its stores.

But as no offers had been received in respect of selling all 23 stores, they planned to initially close 12.

The landlord of the building on Fore Street, Buccleuch Property, has already announced plans to redevelop the site into a space including retail, leisure and housing.