CAMPAIGNERS have won their long battle to keep Shaw post office open.

Last month the Advertiser reported supermarket Tesco had abandoned plans to scrap the mail service when it converted its One Stop shop into a Tesco Express.

Instead it bowed to the will of residents and agreed to submit a planning application that would allow it to extend the store while keeping the post office open.

Yesterday it emerged that Swindon Council has agreed to the application without objection.

The planned extension for a refrigeration unit and extra storage space is expected to be carried out later this summer, and it is hoped the new Tesco Express with post office will be open for business soon afterwards.

A spokesman for Swindon Council said: "There was widespread support for the plan so there was no need to put it to the planning committee."

Tesco welcomed the news that its application had been accepted.

Spokesman Steve Gracey said: "We are very pleased that we are now able to go forward with the extension.

"It will help us to fulfil our aim of giving customers an improved convenience store while retaining the post office.

"We're pleased the council were of the same mind as us, and now it's full steam ahead."

The company is in the process of rescinding its resignation from the post office network, and it is hoped that work to convert the store into a Tesco Express will be finished by late summer.

Keith Williams, chairman of the Shaw Residents' Association, said: "It's very good news that the council have managed to put this through in such a short period of time.

"Shaw residents are very excited they will be able to buy their groceries in Tesco and take advantage of the post office facilities as well."

And South Swindon MP Julia Drown, who helped campaign to keep the post office open, said the victory was proof of the potential of people power.

"It was very clear to me that if the post office closed it would cause a lot of problems for many residents," she said.

"This announcement is the final part of the formal planning process which will allow Tesco to retain the post office in their store in Shaw.

"I congratulate local residents for making their voices clearly heard. People power can work and it has done so for the post office at Shaw."

Andy Tate