A POST Office which was destroyed in a blaze two and a half years ago is set to re-open after a major rebuild.

Residents in Langdon Hills faced a two mile trip to the nearest Post Office, at the Laindon Centre, or Ballards Walk, Laindon, after the Triangle shops went up in flames in January 2013.

The new branch, which will be inside McColls newsagent, will offer an extra105 hours of service a week.

The post office will be open the same times as the convenience store- 6am until 10pm Monday to Saturday, and 7am until 10pm on Sunday.

Dave Thomas, chief operating office of McColls, said: “We are delighted to soon be welcoming customers to our rebuilt store and post office, which will offer a wide range of Post Office services alongside our extensive retail offer.

"As a convenience store operator we are always looking for ways to make life easier for our customers and the additional post office services will be available for the full opening hours of the store in order to provide an excellent service for the local community.”

In October 2013 a temporary store opened in the car park of the shopping parade to minimise disruption to residents while a permanent solution was put in place.

This moved eight months ago to allow Diamond Build, which is leading the redevelopment on behalf of Basildon Council, to get on work building work.

Peter Wilkinson, post office area manager: “We are delighted that Langdon Hill will soon have a Post Office permanently back in the heart of its community. It will be modern and customers will also greatly benefit from the significantly extended opening hours, which will make it more convenient to visit.”

An electrical fault in the roof of the Hong Kong House chinese restaurant sparked the huge blaze, which also burnt the Elizabeth Louise Hair and Beauty Salon, the Chip Shop and a computer company, to the ground.

The £1.8million resurrection of the shopping parade, in High Road, includes six shops, two more than the original Triangle complex, and five flats.

The Post Office and McColls will open at 1pm on Friday, October 23.