The Lord Mayor of Norwich wielded a massive pair of red scissors as he officially cut the ribbon and reopened a newly-refurbished post office branch.

Keith Driver was invited to the Tuckswood post office on Sherwood Road, Norwich, on Monday.

The branch has undergone a major refurbishment, which staff said had made it much brighter, and allowed customers to have a more personal experience with staff when they came to the store.

Victoria Lovewell, manager of the post office, said: 'It had a major refurbishment for two weeks. Two of the counter positions are open plan, and one of them is a fortress, which is a more secure unit.

'It has just opened the whole of the shop up, and it's a lot brighter.

'It seems we have get more personal contact with customers as it's open plan. It's a lot nicer, and looks a lot nicer.'

She said that although one or two people inevitably do not like change, the overall reaction had been very positive.

She said: 'People are really pleased. They think it's really nice. As a rule, people are really happy with it.

'Everybody has looked in because it's really different. It just seems like there's a lot more room. It's a lot better.'

Ms Lovewell added that now the staff were not behind screens so much, they felt as if they had much more personal contact with customers who came into the branch.

The post office has four members of staff, and Ms Lovewell estimated that up to 400 customers can use it on Mondays, which are very busy.

She said the money for the refurbishment had come from the government, and she thought the Post Office had a limited amount of time to secure the necessary improvements at various branches.

The event comes towards the end of Mr Driver's one-year stint as Lord Mayor of the city.

The Labour councillor, who represents the Lakenham ward, will be succeeded by Liberal Democrat councillor Judith Lubbock, who represents the Eaton ward, in May.

In an age where digital communications are becoming more important, and people are turning to the internet for services such as banking, what do you think the proper role for local post office branches in Norwich is today? Email martin.george@archant.co.uk