91�ȱ�

A postbox has been painted gold in honour of Paralympic gold medallist Ellie Simmonds in her home town.

The 17-year-old swimmer from Aldridge, Walsall, successfully defended the S6 400m freestyle gold she won in Beijing and also broke the world record.

She finished the race in five minutes 19.17 seconds to beat the record by more than five seconds.

The postbox in Aldridge was painted earlier and a stamp featuring Ellie has also gone on sale.

Her father, Steve Simmonds, of Walsall, West Midlands, said to get the record back was "top of her Christmas list".

Simmonds relocated to Swansea with her mother at the age of 11 so she could be trained by coach Billy Pye in a 50-metre pool.

But her father, brother and three sisters remained in the West Midlands and she continues to travel back on weekends to visit them.