COVERING 58 miles a week delivering the Gazette, Hugh and Jackie Williams are dedicated to ensuring the community is kept informed.

The couple, from Oakridge, have been involved with the paper since the 1980s, having both previously worked for the Gazette.

It was Hugh who set up the delivery service in the 1980s, and he is passionate about keeping it going in his retirement.

The 68-year-old grandfather-of-four said: “Having worked for the Gazette for 30 years and having set it all up I would hate to see it stopping and it’s good to give a service that means people still get their local paper, which is important to me.

“You still have a very strong core of older readers. There’s still people of my age who still prefer to have something physical to read.”

Since the lockdown, Hugh and Jackie have taken on a wider distribution area, covering for those who are on furlough leave, and the pair now deliver 68 papers from Chineham to Oakley, covering 16 miles on bike and 42 by car.

The couple, who have three children, are now looking to enlist the help of their 13-year-old granddaughter Rebecca, who is all set to take on a round.

Hugh said: “I get up early in the morning and I enjoy getting up and going out. Being in the trade all my life I’m an early bird and I go on the bike and it keeps me fit.”