A post office and a sewing group have joined forces to develop a mobile phone app aimed at encouraging people to shop in their community.

Wood Street Post Office in Walthamstow and Significant Seams were given £9,500 by Post Office Community Enterprise Fund to develop a “virtual community hub” in collaboration with programmers App 17.

The project will utilise knowledge about businesses and services in the area to create an interactive environment for the community.

“I’m delighted to receive this funding,” Aman Sadana, of Wood Street Post Office, said.

“This programme would help capture the local knowledge people so often share with us.

“People will help signpost services and mobile technologies will also help inform, coordinate and improve services and attendance.

“The whole idea is that it’s selling the idea of shopping local and spend local and I think it will really benefit businesses.”

Significant Seams, a Wood Street-based social enterprise that uses sewing to strengthen community ties, will also use the app to work with support organisations to support vulnerable community members.

“It focuses on Wood Street and Wood Street alone, all the information is there, what businesses sell, their opening hours, what products are available,” Mr Sadana added.

The app, which will either be free or cost around 60p to download, is scheduled to be available in the App Store at around the end of March.