50 years of real loyalty for Felpham post office assistant

Mrs Knight will reach her remarkable half-century of selling stamps and weighing parcels tomorrow.

Postmaster Keith Hellyer and his wife, Sue, marked the occasion by presenting Mrs Knight with a rosebush to recognise her love of gardening and a golden anniversary cake.

Mrs Knight, 68, said she had every intention of adding to her lengthy service. "I will carry on here as long as Keith thinks I can do a good job," she explained. Mr Hellyer, who took over the Felpham Road branch 23 years ago, paid tribute to Mrs Knight.

He said: "Brenda is a very loyal employee. She knows everybody, all the families young and old. Workers like her are the bedrock of small businesses like ours."

Mrs Knight, of Overdown Road, has always worked behind a post office counter. She joined the Victoria Park branch in Aldwick Road 54 years ago when she left school.

She was accepted for the job after seeing it advertised in the Observer. Four years later, in 1959, she wanted a change of scenery and again saw the Felpham job advertised in the local press.

She was taken on - and has stayed ever since. She began working full-time and changed about five years ago to her current routine of three mornings a week.

"It's all about meeting people and seeing if you can help them," explained the mother of two and grandmother of four.

"The post office is part of the community. I have seen children grow up and have their own families and, unfortunately, there have been customers who passed away."

She said the business had undergone many changes in the past 50 years. Mr and Mrs Hellyer had to constantly think of new ways to generate custom as their core post office business was whittled away by the government.

The branch has about 300 customers a week compared with 1,200 ten years ago.

But she warned the loss of a post office was a blow from which an area struggled to recover.

"Everyone feels they can come in here and have a chat if they want to. If you take a post office away, it leaves a big hole in the community," she stated.

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