AFTER a damaged postbox was removed from their road, residents were crest-fallen to learn Royal Mail did not intend to replace it.

Faced with what they felt was too long a walk to post their mail, the people living in The Downs and The Chilterns in Hatfield gathered a petition calling for it to be reinstated.

When their request was turned down, they called on Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps – and his pressure has seen Royal Mail bosses reverse their decision.

He wrote to senior officials to explain the next nearest postbox was at the Hilltop parade, which was too far for many of the elderly and disabled residents living in those two streets to get to.

When he visited The Downs to meet residents, Mr Shapps said: “The crazy thing is that a postal van actually stops at the exact location every day because there happens to be a separate lock-up box there for the postman to use during his round.

“I therefore argued there was no additional inconvenience involved in replacing the knocked down postbox at this location.”

A spokesman for Royal Mail said the postbox was one deemed “low usage”.

He said: “Sometimes when a box like that gets damaged we don’t replace it, especially if there is another box within a suitable radius.

“But we listened to what the residents said and what the MP said, and reviewed the decision.”

A new postbox is set to be installed in The Downs in the next few weeks.

Mr Shapps said he was delighted with the change of heart.

He added: “I pay tribute to Royal Mail for responding to genuine public concern on this occasion and to my residents for refusing to take no for an answer.”