A POST office in Morris Green is bucking the national trend of closing branches by launching a bid to expand.

Planning chiefs from Bolton Council were today considering a plan to renovate the exisiting sub post office on Morris Green Lane.

Fourteen post offices have been axed in Bolton axed since the start of the New Year.

But the owners of the Morris Green business wants to extend their post office and mini-shop to cater for growing demand.

The post office was taken over by two brothers around three years ago.

They are proposing to extend the exisiting retail use and change the first-floor into a self-contained flat.

The floorspace in the post office and shop would be doubled and disabled access would be improved.

But not everybody is behind the proposals with some residents objecting to the revamp because of fears over increased traffic.

They say that Morris Green Lane would be turned into a rat-run by motorists.

And they claim that more on-street parking could lead to an accident.

Ayub Patel, manager of the post office, said: "We want to improve facilities for our existing customers.

"It's important for many residents, particularly the elderly, to have this on their doorstep."