A new Post Office in Allanton has been officially opened.
Officially opened on Friday by local MP Anum Qaisar, MSP Neil Gray and the local community, Allanton Post Office operates six days a week within the brand-new convenience store on the site of the former Damside Inn.
Within, it sells locally sourced products, a wide range of snacks and a soon to open café.
Postmaster, Omar Nasir, who already operates Motherwell Post Office, has taken on this new branch.
Lee and Demi Bannatyne, from Allanton, are running the business and café on a day-to-day basis with their extended family.
Postmaster, Omar Nasir, told Lanarkshire Live : “This shop and Post Office are ideally located for residents, businesses and passing trade. We are on the A71 – the second busiest A road in Scotland with lots of passing traffic.
“We are very fortunate to have plenty of parking, so the Post Office is in a more convenient location than before and people can easily pop in for the Post Office, groceries and a takeaway.
“We have lots of elderly people in the village and not all have cars, so it is essential to have a Post Office here.
£People can also do all their banking and we are open longer hours too. We have been busy from the start and each day we are getting busier as people hear what we have to offer.”
Allanton Post Office is the first, permanent, like-for-like replacement for a branch previously operated by CJ Lang who announced last summer their decision to close 31 Post Office counters in their stores.
Anum Qaisar MP said: “When I become the MP last year a significant concern of my constituents was that the operator for the Post Office had resigned.
“Post Offices provide a vital service for local communities, and I am delighted that this wonderful new shop and Post Office has opened. The store looks great and this family-run business is very welcoming.”
Neil Gray MSP told us: “We were shocked when the previous operator, CJ Lang, no longer wanted to operate a Post Office in Allanton as it is such an essential part of a community, providing vital services, a meeting point and drawing people into a shop.
“I spearheaded a cross-party campaign to highlight how communities would be affected by CJ Lang’s decision to stop providing Post Offices at many of their shops, which was a hammer-blow to many communities.
“I am overjoyed that Allanton now has a full-time Post Office again. The store looks amazing and there is a real buzz of excitement about what this shop has to offer.”
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