WELLOW postmistress, Susan Jane Pritchett, has died away after a short illness aged 70.

Sue was born in Staffordshire in 1949, the only child of Maureen and Philip Hiskins.

The family moved to the Isle of Wight in 1957 and bought Rossiters Farmhouse, Wellow.

Her father rebuilt the farmhouse and started to farm poultry, then pigs. As a youngster, Sue enjoyed helping on the farm.

She attended the convent school in Newport initially, and then the convent in Ryde.

After leaving school, she undertook a secretarial course at the Island Tech College and then worked at the Midland Bank for many years.

In 1970, she met Andrew Pritchett and they married in Shalfleet Church in 1972 and lived in Lake for six years.

In 1979 they built their bungalow in Wellow, where they remained ever since, with their three sons, Peter, James and Timmy, all growing up there.

Mrs Pritchett started Wellow Post Office in 1994 from Tony Hayter's house, The Old Post Office.

During this time, she also ran Calbourne Post Office and often assisted in Yarmouth.

She was offered the opportunity to move Wellow Post Office to Rossiters Farm and set up in the old barn.

After change of ownership, a brand new Post Office was built, and it opened in September 2018.

For the last three years, Mrs Pritchett has also been operating Shalfleet Post Office from the Village Stores.

She was passionate about the West Wight and the local rural communities, and she knew her Post Offices were essential for the elderly villagers, whether to pop in for a chat, do their banking, or post their parcels.

In 2002, she formed a crucial part of the pressure group THWART and successfully fought off the threat of seven wind turbines in the West Wight.

In 2019, she discovered Wellow and the West Wight were facing a potential 'garden village' of 2,000 houses in the Draft Island Plan.

She was instrumental in starting the West Wight Villagers' Residents' Association to protect what she loved, becoming treasurer and a key member of the group.

The WWVRA said it is passionate about keeping Mrs Pritchett's legacy alive and will continue the work she began.

Mrs Pritchett is survived by her mother Maureen, husband, sons, and grandchildren Theo and Sophia.

The family will hold a thanksgiving and celebration of life next year at Shalfleet Church.