A VILLAGE post office used by Prince Philip when he was based near Corsham has been lovingly recreated at a Bath museum.

Neston Post Office has been painstakingly put together exactly as it was until its closure 40 years ago. The post office was used regularly by the Duke of Edinburgh during World War Two, when he was based at HMS Royal Arthur at nearby Corsham, now closed.

The 1930s shop and post office has been rebuilt at Bath Postal Museum and was an instant hit with visitors.

The recreation was able to go ahead after the museum was given vital fixtures and fittings from the post office which closed in 1961 when owners Arthur and Marjorie Cousins retired.

The front room, which had housed the shop and post office, was left locked and untouched while the couple lived in the rest of the house.

Their daughter, Barbara Vaughan, has donated the original post officer counter which has been used as part of the museum's interactive exhibition for school children.

Museum education officer Matthew Charlton said it took four months to put the new display together.

He said: "The museum wanted visitors to experience what it would have been like during this period.

"We already have a marvellous collection of post office ephemera here at the museum, and thanks to various donations from local people including a gas mask, stamps, scales and old money, we now have a new exhibition."

He said the exhibition was proving very popular.

He said: "We were lucky enough to have most of it together for this year's heritage week, and it was an instant success with both children and parents. We had just under 1,500 visitors that week and a lot of wonderful feedback."

The museum has two original 1930s uniforms and a post office bicycle. Children visiting the exhibition can go behind the counter and write telegrams.