Villagers will be glad to see 64-year-old postmistress Yvonne Collingwood back at her post in January after an emergency operation to replace her hip.

Mrs Collingwood was in such pain that she had to take 12 painkillers and a dose of morphine to get through the day.

Customers to the post office at her converted garage at Pembroke Green, Lea, were concerned to see her dragging herself from behind the glass screen over to the newspaper counter supported by crutches and grimacing in pain.

Her condition deteriorated from what had been diagnosed as an arthritic hip 18 months ago.

Tests in June this year revealed the bone had been crumbling because the blood supply to her hip had been cut off.

"I have been in pain for years," said Mrs Collingwood who lives with her husband and five dogs in the house by the post office.

"I went to see my GP last year who said it wasn't bad enough for a replacement yet. But it got worse over the next year. I was in agony in August but you try not to think of it at the time.

"The doctors said there had been complications and wanted me to have an operation as quickly as possible."

In early October doctors at Bath Royal United Hospital fitted a replacement hip.

The surgery was a success and Mrs Collingwood now feels no pain and is on crutches until her bone heals around the new hip.

She thanked the doctors and nurses at both Malmesbury Hospital and Bath Royal Unites Hospital and villagers for their support.

"They have been absolutely brilliant. Everybody has been so incredibly good," she said.

Mrs Collingwood expects to get back behind the counter in January but is already in the shop welcoming customers who say she will be sorely missed if forced to retire.

Villager Arnold Shaw said: "She is a gem. She is always happy and we hope she works in the post office until her 80s."

Mrs Collingwood has run the post office for the last four years after her husband retired following a series of strokes.