A town’s Post Office which has been plagued with problems has finally found a permanent home.

The difficulties for the Tonbridge branch began when it had to move out of WHSmith in the High Street in July 2022.

It has been operating from a temporary pop-up at the town’s 13th-century castle for the past 18 months, with space provided by Tonbridge and Malling council.

However, the castle branch has been plagued by staffing shortages and wi-fi problems which have resulted in it closing several times.

The branch though has now found a permanent home within Tonbridge.

The new unit has opened in Quarry Hill Road, in premises formerly occupied by picture framing shop, Arcadia.

It will be part of the Eco Hub Refill Store which also opened at 1pm on Wednesday (January 3).

Post Office's network provision lead Emily Clive said: "We are delighted there is now a permanent Post Office in Tonbridge again and with longer opening hours.

"We want to sincerely thank Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council for providing the temporary location, which allowed us to maintain Post Office service to the community.”

The branch is now open from 9am until 5.30pm Monday to Saturday.

It will be closed on Sundays.

It means it will be open an extra 18.5 hours a week more than when it was at the castle and trading from 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays.

Meanwhile, the new unit will have three serving positions - two screened and a Post Office serving point at the shop counter.

The same Postmaster who has been operating the temporary branch will transfer to the new branch.

Products and services available include passports, on-demand Travel Money, Travel Insurance, plus bill payments, collections and returns.

The retail side of the shop is to be stocked over the coming weeks.

Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat expressed his delight at the new branch opening.

He said: “After over a year of waiting and campaigning locally, the Post Office [has] finally re-opened in Tonbridge.

“I'm sure everybody will be pleased to see it has returned.”

Speaking in the autumn, Mr Tugendhat said: “We all know this has taken much longer than anybody expected.

“However, I am pleased we will finally have a permanent presence back in the centre of Tonbridge.”