A COUPLE who have run a village post office and newsagent for the last 31 years have spoken of their sadness at retiring later this year.
Mahendra Patel received an award in recognition of his long service as postmaster at Ashtead's Harris News from the Post Office last week, after starting in the role in 1982.
His wife Ushe has spent the same amount of time running the newsagent at the front of the shop, and both have reflected on their time at the Barnett Wood Lane business coming to an end.
"I will be sad but we live nearby so I will be visiting a lot," said Mr Patel, who turns 65 in October.
"It's a good life being a postmaster. You get everything going on in the post office.
"The best part is looking after my customers, especially the elderly residents, who often really rely on the service. You get to hear all their stories and what's going on in Ashtead.
"It's a stressful job sometimes but certainly not all the time. Every now and then you get a difficult customer but it's rare."
Mrs Patel also spoke warmly of her experience of being at the heart of the community for such a significant length of time.
"Everyone comes and chats to me," she said. "I listen to their problems or anything else they want to talk about. If someone wants to know about something they come to me."
The couple are yet to fix a date for their retirement, but their final day in the post office will be in the next few months.
"I want to thank all our customers who have supported us for the last 31 years," Mrs Patel added. "We have really enjoyed being here for so long and are very sad to be leaving."
