DUNFERMLINE Crown Post Office will close with services moving to WH Smith in High Street.

The building in Queen Anne Street will likely be sold off with Post Office Ltd operating from the basement of the shop.

The decision was taken after a six week public consultation and review.

Roger Gale, general manager of the Crown branch network, said: "After careful consideration of the feedback received, I am confident that WH Smith is a suitable host partner and that the new Crown branch will be suitably located.

"I believe this change will help to provide future sustainability for the branch and maintain a Crown post office presence in Dunfermline."

The move was originally pencilled in for next month but he said: "We are currently making the final arrangements for the move and further posters will be provided in branch soon to let customers know the actual date the move will take place."

The modern, open plan branch in the WH Smith store at 111-113 High Street will be accessed by stairs and lift and will have four counters and two self-service kiosks, with opening hours from 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday (it will open at 9.30am on Tuesdays).

It will provide the same range of services, with the exception of the digital application service, which is available at Abbeyview Post Office.

Post Office Ltd outlined the proposal in the summer and a public consultation began in June.

There were 24 individual responses with concerns including accessibility, disabled parking, whether the WH Smith store was large enough for additional customers, and the fact the new branch would be a downhill walk from the current location and the bus station.

Respondents were also unhappy the new branch wouldn't have a digital application service – used for DVLA licence renewals – or a Post Office ATM and asked about the relocation of the war memorial.

Mr Gale said the WH Smith store is 110 metres away from the current branch and while it is downhill from Queen Anne Street, "the hilly nature of the area is a geographical feature of Dunfermline".

He said the new branch is within a level, pedestrian shopping area with public car parks and a Shopmobility service close by.

Mr Gale explained that the lift will be upgraded and refurbished with the store entrance, aisles and lift areas kept free of obstructions to make it easier for wheelchair users and parents pushing prams.

There will be improved lighting, a handrail and although there is a slope on the ground floor level, "WH Smith has confirmed that the gradient will be modified before the move takes place".

He added that they may add an ATM in future – WH Smith already have one outside the shop – and repeated what he said in June, that they were "working with Royal Mail to identify the most appropriate place to relocate the memorial".

“We are committed to remaining on high streets and at the heart of communities and we are making changes right across our network to enable us to do so,” said Mr Gale.

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “I am naturally disappointed that Post Office Ltd has decided to move Dunfermline’s Crown Post Office from its prime location on Queen Anne Street.

"There are already a number of vacant buildings in the town centre, and this decision will add another. People are understandably wondering what will happen to the building now.”