POSTMAN Trevor Down has made his final delivery after notching up almost 20 years on the Black Torrington round.

Trevor, who lives just yards from the Halwill Junction post office, where he worked for several years, before taking on the Black Torrington round 19 years ago, recently hung up his postbag for good.

The grandfather of four was born and bred in the Halwill area, and ran the village shop with his wife Kathleen before first picking up the postbag as relief postman 25 years ago.

Trevor said he had built up a good relationships with the people on his round.

?I knew 95 per cent of the people on my round by their Christian names and never put letters through their doors. I always knocked to go in and say hello. If I knew someone had been ill I would help with getting their milk or pension,? he said.

Trevor is so well-known in Black Torrington that those on his round gave him a specially inscribed jug to mark his kindness over the years.

Other presents to mark his retirement included a garden bench and his family provided Trevor and his wife with a holiday in Tenerife.