​Shoreham says fond farewell to ‘remarkable’ post office owner after 34 years in the family business

Alka Sthankiya, 61, has been running Mansell Road Post Office on her own for three years after her husband of 37 years, postmaster Anant Sthankiya, passed away at the age of 58 from cancer.

The couple had opened the shop on July 4, 1989, in partnership with Anant's parents, Jyotibhai and Indumati Sthankiya, and the community around them has become like an extended family.

Alka said: "It has been a full on few years. I have had lots of family support, and from the community. Anant was well loved and the community bought a bench in his memory to put outside the shop."