Lily van den Broecke to get gold postbox after Paralympic win (From The Oxford Times)

Lily van den Broecke to get gold postbox after Paralympic win

9:10am Monday 3rd September 2012 in News

ROYAL Mail bosses confirmed last night that a postbox will be painted gold in Oxford to honour Paralympian gold medallist Lily van den Broecke.

Yesterday at the Paralympic Games, the GB mixed coxed four – featuring cox Ms van den Broecke, pictured, David Smith, James Roe, Naomi Riches and Pamela Relph – held off a challenge from rivals Germany to win Britain’s only Paralympic rowing medal at Eton Dorney.

As with gold medal-winning Olympians, each Paralympian who wins gold will have a postbox painted gold in their honour in their home town.

Ms van Den Broecke, 20, is a former pupil at Headington School and still lives in the suburb.

Royal Mail spokesman Rhiannon Hardy said: “We’ve had confirmation that Lily’s gold postbox will be on Divinity Road in East Oxford and they are due to be painting it today.”

The confirmation from Royal Mail that a postbox in the city will be painted gold will cheer residents disappointed that Oxford is not getting a postbox to honour Olympic medallist Andy Triggs Hodge, who won gold in the rowing men’s fours last month.

The 33-year-old lives in East Oxford but as he grew up in Yorkshire a postbox has instead been painted gold in Hebden, near Skipton.

Mr Triggs Hodge was unavailable for comment but city council leader Bob Price said: “I am delighted that a gold medal winner at the Paralympics, who is from Oxford, is being recognised in this way and I look forward to seeing the postbox painted gold.”