NEARLY 2,000 people have signed a petition to re-instate a much-loved community postman who is believed to have lost his job.

Residents in and around the Stoneclough area are calling for long-serving postie Anthony Holt to be given his job back after he was reportedly sacked by the Royal Mail.

Mr Holt, who has worked out of the nearby Radcliffe post depot for the past 18 years, is said to have been dismissed after breaking into his own van after accidentally locking his keys inside.

He had dropped the keys in the van, which had then self-locked and in the belief that there was only one pair, he had used tools to open the vehicle up so that he was no longer stranded and could finish his daily post round.

The Bolton News understands the incident which led to Mr Holt’s dismissal occurred in May and after a Royal Mail investigation he was informed he had lost his job last week — he has since appealed that decision.

The Royal Mail did not want to comment on the specifics of the case, but said an “internal process” is ongoing.

Mr Holt, aged 34, from Radcliffe has been described by Stoneclough residents as “more than just a postman” and as “the best postman ever” for going beyond the call of duty to help the community.

When the Riverside Drive area of Stoneclough was flooded at Christmas, affected residents said he went out of his way to make sure their post was taken to safe locations and offered them support during the difficult period.

He was also on hand to use his post van to help friend David De Souza put up giant metallic flowers around Kearsley as part of the Kearsley in Bloom celebrations.

News of Mr Holt’s dismissal has angered the Stoneclough community.

Along with the petition of nearly 2,000 names — which was launched by Lee Burns — about 500 people have also joined a Facebook group called We Want Our Post Man Back.

That group was set up by Stoneclough resident Terena Russell, aged 47, who said: “Anthony is a very well-liked postman and you can see that by how many people have shown their support for him.

“I think it is very unfair to sack him for that, he is a really nice bloke who will go out of his way to help anyone.”

She added: “We saw during the floods that he does more than just deliver our mail and we want him back.”

Riverside Drive resident Kev Kelly, whose house was badly flooded in the Boxing Day deluge, said Mr Holt was on hand to help at the time.

He said: “He helped us to clear the devastation of the flood and afterwards he reassured any resident affected that their post would be redirected for free, something he organised through his bosses.

“He is a really nice guy, he waits patiently to make sure you are in and if not he knows all our trusted neighbours to have our packages signed for.”

He added: “He just does his job to an excellent standard and always greets everyone he sees.”

A spokesman for the Royal Mail said: “This case is subject to an internal process and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”