All change at the post office

Residents were surprised by the apparently sudden departure of Tony and Janet Tratt from Walton Stationers in February, when the sale of the business went through more quickly than expected. They left partly because Tony has to have a major operation, replacing both knees. Janet said: "It was very sad we did not have the chance to say goodbye to all those nice people who had supported us for so many years. A bit of our hearts will always be in Jericho. We've had an enormous number of letters and cards sending good wishes." Welcome now to Shahzada Ahmed and his family. You might have seen his wife Rukhsana and daughters Sabrina and Sonia helping out in the shop on Saturdays, but the regular post office service is from brother-in-law Gulstan Mahmood (an 'eligible bachelor' according to -Shahzada). Helping in the shop, as ever, is Paula now also with Abril Ibarra. Shahzada has been a sub-postmaster before but has also had a food shop in north Oxford and has been a cab driver. He points out that the post office is now open all day Wednesday. With the imminent closure of the post office in Hayfield Road, they will have more business and plan a dramatic remodelling in the next few months, with three main windows that will face the shop and another for the disabled. Gulstan has plans to build up a commercial stationery business here but says that they will also happily deliver heavy packs of paper from the shop.