Brownlee postbox row hits Leeds suburbs

A postbox in Leeds was painted gold after residents complained Royal Mail had honoured triathlete Alistair Brownlee by painting the wrong box.

Brownlee won gold while his brother Jonny took bronze in Tuesday's race.

Royal Mail painted a postbox gold in Horsforth, where the brothers grew up, to mark the victory, annoying people in Bramhope where the brothers now live.

Resident Peter Moran painted a postbox in Moor Road, Bramhope, gold but Royal Mail repainted it red on Friday.

He said: "I did my best with a little paintbrush. We are proud of the Brownlee boys."

Mr Moran said he thought Royal Mail were "mean and miserable" after they repainted the box.

'Bitterly disappointed'

Jason Cullen, who lives in Bramhope, said residents were "really, really disappointed" the official golden postbox was not there.

"We were in the pub Tuesday night thinking where is it going to be.

The Bramhope box (right) has been repainted red, leaving the official gold postbox in Horsforth (left)

"We were saying there's a fantastic postbox in the middle of our gorgeous village not far from where the boys live and that the whole village would be able to see it every day. The boys would see it every day.

"We were bitterly disappointed when it was not here."

He added: "A lot of people round here know the brothers, they've lived here for years, they train here and we've all been watching them."

Tim Cowen, from Royal Mail, said it could be difficult picking out the home town of an athlete but he was "pretty confident" the right decision had been made.

He added: "I understand the Brownlee brothers were both born and grew up in Horsforth and their parents still live there."

Meanwhile two postboxes, one for normal mail and one for franked mail, have been painted gold in Cookridge Street, Leeds, in honour of Nicola Adams, who became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing gold medal.