VILLAGERS in Nether Wallop are having to do without one of their post boxes - after it was removed following a road collision.

There are concerns that with the post box outside the Five Bells in Five Bells Lane missing, elderly residents will struggle to walk to the nearest post box at the Square to post their cards and letters in time for Christmas.

But Royal Mail say the post box was removed for repair following an accident earlier this month and is now ready to be reinstalled. But it can't go back until the wall it needs to be attached to is fixed.

A spokeswoman said: "Because of the accident, the wall needs to be repaired first. Once the wall is in a suitable state, we are ready to put this in. We hope it's not too much of an inconvenience for people - there are other letter boxes nearby."

It is still not known when the post box will be back in place.