Residents of a Suffolk village have enjoyed their own red letter day after a vital service was finally restored.
A postbox had stood the test of time on the corner of Lakeside Rise in Blundeston since the early 1960s.
But in May last year it was accidentally knocked over, and quickly collected by Royal Mail.
However it took a year for a replacement to turn up.
However, since then, people had been unable to post letters locally, and one resident - who has lived on this road for 40 years and is now confined to a wheelchair - said: "We have many elderly and disabled people here and it is not always easy to travel to other pillar-boxes in time to catch the post."
Another resident said: "The Royal Mail were very quick to collect the damaged red box in May 2022, but then nothing more was done.
"After waiting for a few weeks, the residents of Lakeside Rise began to contact The Royal Mail to ask when their postbox would be reinstated - but they continually missed the point, and assumed that this was a request for a new box - rather than a replacement."
Last September the requests were processed and there was joy after "many more emails" when in May 2023 a brand new box was installed.
However it was shortlived, as the resident said: "It was still wrapped in black plastic, but this really seemed like progress.
"Another two months passed by with the plastic still firmly obscuring the iconic red box.
"Then came great excitement when an employee in red was seen removing the offending black plastic - sadly, this optimism was shortlived because the plastic was replaced with a bolted-in gag."
This meant that after taking two months to get the postbox unwrapped, the residents were still unable to post letters as the box was "sealed shut."
Finally, there was joy for residents on August 10 with the removal of the gag meaning the box is finally in use.
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