Telford post box goes gold in honour of Mickey Bushell
Shropshire got its first golden post box today after county wheelchair racer Mickey Bushell stormed to victory at the Paralympics.
Workers painted the post box in Arleston Lane, at the junction with Woollam Road in Telford in celebration of Mickey's gold medal performance.
Mickey eased to victory in the T53 100m final at the Games on Monday, and the Royal Mail today sent painters to the town after asking Telford's golden boy which post box he would like to see transformed.
Royal Mail started to paint some of its red post boxes gold to celebrate British winners during the Olympics. And the move proved so popular that it continued the practice for every Paralympics TeamGB individual gold medal win during the Games.
The Telford post box is expected to become a landmark tourist attraction in the town.
Elsewhere in the UK, dozens of people have queued up to have their photos taken in front of the golden post boxes.
Councillor Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said the borough should be very proud of the 22-year-old's accomplishments.
"Mickey Bushell is the pride of Telford & Wrekin and showed great grit and determination when he won the gold medal," he said. "Mickey absolutely dominated his race and won in true style. He is an inspiration and I am sure that everyone in the borough will feel a huge sense of pride at his gold medal."
Councillor Sahota added: "Mickey has got the 200m on Friday so let's hope there's one or two more gold medals for Telford & Wrekin to come." He added that Telford & Wrekin Council would be looking at how to 'properly recognise' Mickey's win when he returns home to Telford.
The Royal Mail has also produced a commemorative first class stamp featuring Mickey's image. It is available from today as a sheet of two first class stamps for £1.20.
