Residents in a remote far north settlement are celebrating a red letter day after winning the right to have mail delivered to their homes.
For the past seven months, householders in the Altnabreac area have had to make a near 40-mile round trip to pick up their letters and parcels in the post office in Halkirk.
But following a successful appeal to Ofcom, the Royal Mail has been forced to immediately resume normal deliveries to the area.
The decision was yesterday hailed by Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP as a test case for the future of the universal postal service.
Royal Mail caused a storm in October last year when it stopped its posties making the hour-long return trip to Altnabreac on safety grounds “due to road conditions” and the dodgy mobile phone coverage.
A previous ban imposed in 2014 was quickly rescinded after a backlash but the utility had argued that the road network has deteriorated in the meantime.
It had offered residents the choice of having their mail delivered to friends or relatives who lived closer to Halkirk.
Among the handful of residents affected in the KW12 postcode area is Kevin Booth, who lives in Lochdhu Lodge, a baronial former shooting lodge and hotel.
Mr Booth welcomed the latest ruling from the postal regulator.
He said: “The Ofcom decision has ruled entirely in my favour in every aspect of my appeal against the Royal Mail decision to suspend mail deliveries to rural areas of Caithness as part of a cost-cutting drive.
“My appeal has wide-ranging consequences for all rural properties in Caithness, which may have been affected by similar arbitrary decisions by Royal Mail – who have been shown to have been acting outside their remit.”
Mr Stone hopes the Ofcom ruling will settle the issue for once and all.
He said: “I’m delighted with the outcome of the appeal.
“It’s a basic right that nobody should be disadvantaged because of where they live in accessing basic services.
“Since the advent of the uniform penny post in the 1840s, the Royal Mail has undertaken to deliver throughout the UK.
“If was good enough then with a horse and cart, it should be good enough today.”
Mr Stone said if the Royal Mail has an issue with the condition of the access road, it should take that up wit the landowner.
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “Royal Mail can confirm that Ofcom has informed us that it has overturned our delivery suspension for four premises near Halkirk. Deliveries have recommenced to customers.”