WHEN postman Barry Hazell was asked by his bosses to turn up for his final round at exactly 9.30am he wondered why things were changing on his last day on the job.

But when the 66-year-old arrived at Campion Way in Witney he was met by dozens of people who wanted to thank him for going the extra mile over the years.

Mr Hazell, who has done his rounds in Madley Park for the past 10 of his 14 years with Royal Mail, said he was amazed by the response of people in the area to his retirement.

The father-of-three said: “I was certainly a bit surprised when my manager said to me I needed to be at Campion Way for 9.30am.

“I did not know why but then I saw people gathering and I was amazed. It was quite emotional.

“There is doing the job and there is going the extra mile.

“If I knew people were friendly with someone and they weren’t in I would go to their friends with their parcels.

“I carried a meter box key and I would put the parcels in their electric box.”

The Witney resident said: “It’s a great job. You are getting paid and you are getting exercise and you are meeting people.

“If you have a permanent round you get to know people like I did and establish friendships.”

Now Mr Hazell, who was born in Oxford, is looking forward to trying something different.

He said: “I plan to have a good rest but I am interested in art galleries so I will go to a few of those.

“I am a fan of Doctor Who and I would like to go to the exhibition in Cardiff.”

The surprise retirement party on Saturday was organised by mum-of-two Tina Hepworth, who lives in Madley Park.

She organised a collection to buy Mr Hazell a hamper filled with cheese, wine and gift vouchers.

She said: “We raised more than £200 on Thursday and Friday and there was still money coming in on Saturday morning.

“Barry would always come back if he saw me coming back from town in the car and he would flag me down and say he had a parcel for me.

“He always knew if someone had just had a baby, he would make sure they got presents on time.

“He loved the job, he always said that.”

Local Royal Mail manager Naomi Taylor said: “Barry was a popular member of our local team here in Witney over many years and we wish him all the very best.”