St Stephen postbox painted gold after Jonathan Fox medal win

Stamps are being printed to mark Jonathan Fox's win

A postbox in Cornwall has been painted gold in honour of Paralympian swimmer Jonathan Fox, Royal Mail has said.

Fox, 21, secured Britain's first swimming gold in the men's S7 100m backstroke on Thursday.

The postbox was painted in Fore Street in the village of St Stephen-in-Brannel, near St Austell.

First class stamps featuring his image are also being produced to commemorate his win.

'One with water'

Fox - who has cerebral palsy and is now based in Manchester - was a regular at the beach growing up in Cornwall, something he said helped boost his sporting prowess, which saw him swim for the Newquay Cormorants.

He said: "Whenever the weather was hot, I'd go down surfing and body boarding with my mates.

"I've always been at one with the water."

The swimmer admitted he struggled at the end of his race when Ukrainian Yevheniy Bohodayko started to close in from the 75m mark.

He said: "You are always thinking in the back of your mind 'I can see the guy in lane five coming back at me', and you are dying inside and you just want to finish it.

"I just stuck to it and hit the wall fast."

He adds his 2012 Gold to the silver he won in the 100m Backstroke in Beijing in 2008.

His father, Eric Fox, said his family was "thrilled to bits for him".

He said: "It means everything, He's been swimming since he was 10, he works hard at it, and it's the culmination of all that to win the gold.

"I knew it was doing to be difficult. He has a habit of swimming quickly in the heats and I knew it would get him in the final ... but it was wonderful."

The medallist's brother, Frazer, added that he was "amazingly proud".

Olympians honoured

The postbox is the third to be painted gold in the county in honour of winners in the Olympics or Paralympics.

One was painted in Penzance for Olympic rower Helen Glover's win.

Glover, 26, and rowing partner Heather Stanning, 27, took gold in the Olympic rowing pairs final, winning Britain's first gold medal of the 2012 Games.

She started her sporting rise to fame in Penzance.

Another was painted in Restronguet for sailor Ben Ainslie after he secured his fourth Olympic gold in the 2012 Games.

Now based in Hampshire, he grew up and took up sailing in Cornwall.

The postboxes will remain gold for six months, Royal Mail said.