I WAS disgusted to read that the recently retired postmistress at North Littleton may be forced to pay back some £1,400 of the money violently stolen from her premises earlier this year.

These two thugs forced their way into the sub-post office and held this elderly lady around the throat while filling their pockets. To inflict this further punishment now on a lady rightly looking forward to a peaceful retirement is a disgrace. To the best of my knowledge, Mrs Lovatt has run the post office/village shop single-handed for 20 years or so into her eighties, also serving thousands of villagers with groceries and fruit and their kids with sweets and ice-cream. In other words, performing a valuable service to the community. A visitor of mine from Finland said after seeing Mr Lovatt in action: "You are lucky to have this sort of institution in England." Not much longer, it would seem, if this is the way dedication is rewarded. Shame on those who made this decision. And, by the way, isn't this sort of incident covered by the postal service's own insurance arrangements?

JOHN CHADWICK, The Stables, Middle Littleton.