There has been a backlash to a Post Office television advert which features a fake branch in a town centre that does not have one.

The Christmas advert promotes the company as the "home of parcel drop-off" - a claim residents have described as "ironic" because the advert features Frome, in Somerset, which does not have a branch.

Dave Smith Price posted on Facebook that it was "ridiculous when everyone complains we don't have a post office in the town centre, yet they've used the town centre as the location for an ad".

A Post Office spokesperson apologised to the "people of Frome" for any confusion and said that Catherine Street had been chosen because it was "picturesque".

Frome has post offices on the outskirts of the town but there are none in the centre.

Several new Post Office adverts were filmed in Frome over two days in August.

But after the first advert aired at the beginning of November, Frome's residents took to social media to ask why the Post Office was advertising branches that did not exist.

Posting on the Frome Facebook group, Susan Edgell warned: "Please don't take your parcels to Catherine Hill.

"Waste of leg power and time - there is no Post Office there."

Kerry Chivers commented on the Facebook group that although it was "lovely to see Frome in a TV advert" it was "just a shame for the people of Frome that we really don't have a post office in the town anymore".

Meanwhile, Glyn Carpenter said it was "ironic for the Post Office to promote a non-existent branch - as they have withdrawn from the town centre".

A Post Office spokeswoman said the organisation apologised for any confusion the advert had caused.

"Catherine Street in Frome was chosen for filming a fictional post office for our new advert because of its picturesque location and to avoid disrupting service for customers at an actual branch," she said.

She said the nearby Portway Post Office, "which is an actual branch", had been used for the interior filming.

"Whilst there isn't a branch in the centre of Frome, there are two post offices close by in Portway and Rodden Road," she said.

"There is also Frome Banking Hub in the heart of the town for everyday banking and bill payments."

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