When Keshavlal Shah became a postmaster 25 years ago, a first class stamp cost just 4Tp.

A quarter of a century on, and with the same stamp costing six times as much, Mr Shah has decided to call it a day well, almost.

Mr Shah and his wife Savita have been asked by the Post Office to continue running the Botley Road branch in Oxford because nobody else wants to take over.

If bosses cannot find a replacement in the next seven weeks, the Post Office and general store will have to close.

But the couple marked their official retirement date with a presentation from grateful locals and a cheque for 1,485 collected by friends and customers. The pair can justifiably boast they have only ever taken time off sick once in their 25 years behind the counter and that was when they narrowly escaped death after a tree fell on their car in 1984.

Mr Shah, 66, said: "I will be sad to leave this place as I have a lot of fond memories here.

"A lot has changed over the last few years and most of my older customers have gone and been replaced by students.

"It will be such a sad loss to the community if the store closes, but nobody wants to run post offices any more.

"I think 25 years is enough and I'm looking forward to doing absolutely nothing in my retirement." Mrs Shah, 61, who has four children and three grandchildren, said: "We have so many friends here and I will be sorry to say goodbye but we are getting too old for this now."

Customer Vida Comber, of Alexandra Road, Botley, helped collect the farewell present for the Shahs.

She said: "We don't want them to go and it's a blessing in disguise that they've got another seven weeks left. They will be sorely missed."

*A village shop and post office which the Oxford Mail helped to save four years ago is in danger again.

The tenants, husband and wife Sab and Joyce Hussain, have given notice to close the shop in Witney Road, Ducklington, on May 23. In 1996 shop owners Ralph and Janet Godfrey appealed through the Oxford Mail for someone to take over the business when they retired. The appeal was successful and the shop and post office continued trading.

Mrs Hussain said: "Since the opening last year of the Tesco Express garage shop on the corner of Station Lane in Witney we have been losing nearly 300 a week. We would very much like to refurbish the shop and make structural alterations as it is in such a poor state of repair but our landlords Ralph and Janet Godfrey will not allow us.

Ralph Godfrey, owner of the shop premises, said: "All we hope is that someone else will now come along and take it over and keep the shop open."