A postbox in the home village of gold Paralympian Danielle Brown has been daubed with yellow paint in an apparent protest at her choice to have a Skipton postbox painted gold in her honour.

The vandalism comes after some Lothersdale folk felt snubbed when the gold-medal archer decided to overlook the tight-knit community where she was raised.

And shortly after Danielle won the individual compound bow event at the 2012 Paralympics, the postbox at Stansfield Brow, Lothersale, was covered with yellow paint.

“Locals were terribly disappointed by her decision to snub the village where she went to primary school,” said a Lothersdale resident who asked not to be named.

“Minutes after she won gold, an overjoyed elderly resident was seen cleaning the postbox bang opposite Danielle’s house, full of hope it would be painted gold in celebration.”

However, those hopes were dashed when the Paralympian chose to have a higher-profile postbox on Swadford Street, Skipton, painted gold instead of one of the small wall postboxes in her own village.

Danielle, who now lives in Telford, said: “I was proud to represent Yorkshire as a British Paralympian.

“During an incredibly hectic period of media commitments I was asked if I wanted the postbox painted in my honour to be in Shropshire or Yorkshire.

“I definitely wanted it to be in Yorkshire, but chose Skipton as I felt that this would give more people the chance to see the postbox and hopefully be inspired by the Paralympics.

“It’s a shame the postbox in Lothersdale has been vandalised, it would have been great to have a gold postbox there but hopefully people understand more people will get to enjoy it down the road in Skipton.”