Post boxes in Hebden and Skipton will stay gold for good as a permanent reminder of the area’s Olympic and Paralympic successes.

Royal Mail has announced that the 110 boxes that were painted gold across the UK will remain in that state on a permanent basis.

Crowds have been drawn to see Craven’s gold boxes, which are on Main Street in Hebden - celebrating Andy Hodge’s Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Four Rowing -and on Swadford Street in Skipton - marking Danielle Brown’s Paralympic gold medal in the Archery: Women’s Individual Compound Open.

This is believed to be the first time in its history that Royal Mail has permanently changed the colour of some of its iconic boxes to celebrate an historic achievement .

Each post box will have a plaque which names the athlete and marks their gold medal achievement.

The post boxes have now become cherished local landmarks, with many members of the public visiting them and circulating pictures of them on social media channels.

Steve McGuinness, Delivery Director North & West Yorkshire, said: “We are delighted at the way people took to this simple idea.

“The gold post boxes gave communities even more opportunity to mark the successes of Team GB and Paralympics GB - and became a part of local celebrations of London 2012 across the UK. I am pleased to confirm that these post boxes will be kept gold permanently.”