The council has offered Brentwood's Post Office temporary Baytree Centre units until April 2028, once the TG Jones counter shuts on 5 January.

Brentwood Borough Council has offered the town centre Post Office a choice of several units in the Baytree Centre, so the counter can stay in town after its current home in TG Jones closes.

The offer is temporary. The units would provide a home until April 2028, and the shopping centre is due to be redeveloped. The council says it will also help the Post Office find a permanent home on the High Street, including an introduction to local property consultants (Brentwood Borough Council, 28 October 2026).

Nothing is agreed yet. “The ball is in the Post Office’s court,” said Councillor Gareth Barrett, who chairs the council’s Asset and Strategy Committee. “We know our residents want the service to stay, and so do we. The door is open to discuss options.”

The dates that matter

Two closing dates are now on the record, and they are different:

  • Tuesday 5 January 2027: the Post Office counter closes, according to the Post Office’s own letter to customers (Post Office, information letter)
  • Tuesday 12 January 2027: the TG Jones shop itself closes, according to the council
  • April 2028: the end of the temporary units on offer in the Baytree Centre

So the counter is due to shut a week before the shop around it. Anyone who needs a passport check or vehicle tax over the counter in town has until 5 January.

Why the shop is closing

TG Jones, which sells newspapers, magazines, stationery and books, won court approval in August to close up to 150 of its 450 shops under a rescue scheme. The council says the Brentwood store is one of the 150, and that the decision affects 60 Post Offices around the country.

The council also says the closure has nothing to do with its own plans for the Baytree Centre. Our earlier stories cover the closure notice and the redevelopment plan.

Will the Post Office take it?

We do not know yet. The Post Office’s letter, published on 13 October, says it is “in the early stages of reviewing applications to run the Post Office branch”. It has promised a further update “as soon as possible”.

Whether to replace an unplanned closure at all is, in the Post Office’s words, “a commercial decision”. It is not put out to public consultation.

Barrett set out why the council wants a counter in the centre of town. “The people least able to do this online are often also the people who find services difficult to access if they aren’t in a central spot,” he said.

What it means for you

  • Until 5 January, use the Baytree counter as normal. It is the town centre branch with the full range of services.
  • After that, the council points to three other Brentwood branches: Eastham Crescent, Ongar Road and Warley Hill. The Post Office’s own letter names Warley Hill, about 0.7 miles away, and Harold Hill in Romford.
  • To tell the Post Office you want a town centre branch, email comments@postoffice.co.uk or call 03452 66 01 15. Its notification period runs until 5 January (Post Office Views, Brentwood CM14 4BX).
  • Check what a branch offers before you go. Warley Hill does not do passport Check and Send or vehicle tax, according to the Post Office. The branch finder lists the services at each one.

We will report the Post Office’s answer to the council’s offer when it is published.