Delivery office shake-up stuns villagers.

RESIDENTS in Offwell are up in arms after losing their regular postman.

Anthony (Tony) Rowe has been re-allocated to another postal round after a shake-up at Honiton delivery office.

A petition against the decision is currently being circulated around the village by residents Trevor and Susan Fry.

Susan said: “Everybody is upset that he is going, because he has done such a good job for years and years. We just want to show him how much we care. He is a friend to all and a vital member of the community, and his knowledge of the people is second to none.”

Another resident, Dr Mike Hounsome, said: “Tony is an integral part of Offwell and he knows us all, and we all know and trust him.

“He takes part in village events and we really regard him as ‘one of us’. Why on earth should such a great guy, who is well loved in the village and knows the round intimately, be re-allocated, when he does the job perfectly?”

Mr Rowe said: “As always, the villagers of Offwell have been a fantastic support.

“It is a village of real community spirit and an example to other villages. I am proud to have served them and to have known them all.”

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: “We recently carried out a reorganisation of delivery rounds at Honiton delivery office and some customers may notice that a different postman, or woman, now delivers their mail. Whilst it’s always appreciated when our customers recognise the hard work of their postie, we would like to assure them that we have great team at Honiton who are all trained in the same way to maintain the standards our customers expect.”