AN unusual group met on Saturday at The Gateway to share stories about post boxes from around the world.

The Letter Box Study Group group has 700 members and 45 travelled from as far as the Isle of Wight to the event.

Helen Crabtree, event organiser, has collected nearly 400 miniature post boxes over the years.

She said, “Some of the group members own museums and collect real letter boxes.

“My husband brought four from his collection.”

The group’s new chairman, Andrew Young, is from Rosemoor Gardens in Appleton.

Andrew said: “It was really great having one of our two annual meetings in Warrington as it is my home town.

“Warrington is a place of interest to letter box enthusiasts because it is home to a very rare post box, located inside a phone box.”

Nicknamed, ‘the vermilion giant’, the combined phone box and post box, was made in the 1920s and is one of only four surviving on the streets of the UK. It can be found on Wilson Patten Street, by Halo.