THE Royal Mail delivery office in Usk is to close in the new year.

The site's 16 members of staff were told last week that they will be relocated to a refurbished sorting office in Pontypool on 17th January.

Royal Mail says the decision to move was made on health and safety grounds and the need to improve efficiency of its operations.

There will be no redundancies as a result of the move and bosses are expecting only minimal impact of employees' travel time as most do not live in Usk.