Cause fur alarm

County Durham postmen Luke Burns and David Stradling, were able to see the bunny side after their hare-raising day ended with a little rabbit being rescued to live hoppily ever after.

David was on his round when a concerned customer approached him in the street asking him to keep his eyes peeled for a pet rabbit, which had scampered off, no doubt in search of Mr McGregor’s prize carrots.

‘I got a call in the morning from David saying that there was a rabbit on the loose,’ said Luke. ‘He said he’d been approached by the owner and needed an extra pair of eyes. My daughter has two rabbits of her own, so I immediately thought how hopping mad she’d have been if hers had escaped.’

Happy to co-hoperate, Luke was feeling hop-tamistic about finding the naughty bunny and was all ears as he continued with his round.

As luck would have it, Luke eventually found the rabbit sitting pretty in the middle of the road. ‘I picked him up and went back to the customer’s address,’ he said. ‘But there was no-bunny in when I knocked on the door, so I went around the back and placed him in the rabbit run - not before getting a selfie of course!

‘I then placed a note through the customer’s lettucebox explaining that I’d found their rabbit. I also told the local shop, where a notice had been placed in the window.’

The delighted customer wrote in complimenting David and Luke for their efforts: ‘We cannot thank them enough for their efforts. We had almost given up hope of seeing it again. Please pass on our heartfelt thanks.’

Newton Aycliffe delivery office manager, David Phelps, said: ‘It’s great to have some good feedback like this from customers. We praised Luke in our WTLL and put his photo on our Employee Survey wall.’

Hoppy days.