THE Postmaster at Stratton’s Post Office went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure a package made its way to its addressee on time — he delivered it personally after a train journey of more than 200 miles.

David Shepherd, who has been Stratton’s Postmaster for eleven months, last Wednesday caught a train to East Sussex in order to deliver a package that had been left behind.

Mr Shepherd said there had been a mix up at the Post Office, meaning Hugh Monro’s package, containing vital documents, was not sent and would not have made it in time.

Mr Monro, of Stratton, had been away on business at the time and had unexpectedly needed his passport urgently.

Fearing it would not arrive on time Mr Shepherd caught the overnight sleeper train, that left Exeter Station at around 1am, and delivered the passport to Mr Monro’s sister in Rye.

He then turned around and returned to Cornwall.

Mr Shepherd said: “After I finished work at 7pm on the Tuesday, I drove up to Exeter Station and caught the sleeper train — I managed to get Hugh’s passport to him by about ten past eight the following day.

“I know Hugh well, as he comes into the Post Office regularly and I was aware that he travels a lot and would be in need of his passport. So, I decided the best thing was for me to deliver it to him.”

Mr Monro said: “I had to go away on business and it was vital that I received my passport as soon as possible.

“Much to my sister’s surprise and my amazement, David had decided it was vital I received it and travelled overnight to ensure I did.

“It strikes me that he deserves to receive some form of praise or award for his actions because it is not the sort of service you would expect to get.

“We lost our Post Office a while back and it moved into the pub, but since it returned to its original site it has been going from strength to strength thanks to the hard work done by David, which is wonderful to see.”