AN Post is part of a consortium which has won a billion pound contract to computerise British Post Office Counters.

The contract, one of the biggest public finance contracts ever in Britain, is worth "several millions" to An Post, according to a spokesman.

An Post is part of the Pathway, consortium which will computerise 20,000 post offices in Britain over the next three years.

An Post and US technology company Escher Group will supply Pathway, an ICL owned company, with the necessary software, as part of a sub contract relationship.

The deal follows an initial trial to computerise 1,500 London posts offices started at the beginning of 1995, which also used An Post's, Microsoft based software.

The system will allow Britain's post offices to offer a more efficient and wider range of services, including bill payments, a spokesman for An Post said.

Computerised services are already available to over 80 per cent of An Post customers with 565 of the busiest counters already wired up, he added. Within the next 15 months 1,000 Irish post offices are expected to be computerised.

The software allows a range of transactions including welfare payments, bill payments, personal savings and passport applications to be transacted at the post office.

Mr Terry Reynolds, director of post offices at An Post, said the company was "delighted" to be associated with the Pathway win. "It is a recognition of the uniqueness and attractiveness of the post office retail systems developed by An Post", he said.