A city centre post office will be moved to a WH Smith store in a bid to save money.

The agreement between Post Offices Limited and the high street shop means the counter in Ship Street, Brighton, will be moved to WH Smith in Churchill Square before autumn next year.

Post Offices Ltd is moving 76 of its post office branches across the country to WH Smith stores as part of a cost saving exercise. The Ship Street building will eventually be sold.

A consultation period will start next month to ask customers which services they use the most and what they would like to see changed when the post office moves.

The branch employs 22 people who will either be able to apply for a position at the post office in WH Smith, move to another job within the Royal Mail group or take voluntary redundancy.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: "We are offering customers the opportunity to give us feedback on the levels of service and the service they would like to receive.

"We want to try and maintain the level of service we have in the branch at the moment but it may be that the customers want it to change.

"The post office network is not sustainable at the moment as it is which is why we are moving inside retail outlets."

A spokeswoman for WH Smith said the post office side of the business will be run separately from the retail side and a new team will be employed to run the post office counter.

She said: "All the staff who work at the branch in Ship Street will be eligible to apply. We need staff with specialist training."

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper said he would be writing to Alan Cook, the managing director of Post Offices Limited, to voice his concern over possible job losses and the effect of the North Laine and The Lanes.

He said: "My worry is this could be a downgrading of service. I am interested in the views of my constituents."

Peter Stocker, secretary of the North Laine Traders' Association, said people working in the North Laine were already concerned about the loss of the post office at the Co-op in London Road and the loss of the post office in Ship Street would only leave them with a sub post office in Trafalgar Street.

He said: "A lot of the shops round here send things through mail order and use Ship Street post office for that.

"I am very sad about it. Communities need certain things and with the post office being moved out it will be a blow to the lanes because so many people use it."

Is it a good idea to move post offices into WH Smith stores? Or will it seriously affect trade in small communities? Have your say below.