The Royal Mail has apologised after demanding a postman's uniform back - the day after he died.

Much-loved Garth Linham - a postie for 30 years in of Somerton, Somerset - was found dead aged 57 after suffering a heart attack.

Daughter Danni Haskins said she was still trying to process the loss of her 'amazing' father when a postal boss turned up at her house and demanded his uniform back. The 24-year-old claims she was told she could be arrested for fraud if she did not return the uniform.

She says Royal Mail said they needed it back for 'safety and security reasons'.

Ms Haskins said: 'It hadn't even been 24 hours since I found him.

'I didn't even have time to process the loss of my amazing dad, let alone think to have his work clothes washed and ready to go. 'At the time, one of our senior managers visited Ms Haskins and offered our sincere condolences to the family.

'For safety and security reasons we have to ensure that all uniform is returned.

'Royal Mail appreciates that this message could have been delivered at a more appropriate time or in a different way.

'It was not the intention to cause Ms Haskins any distress and we wrote to her about this at the time to apologise. Ms Haskins says her father 'loved his job' and was 'a real people person'.

More than 200 people turned up to Mr Linham's funeral, dressed in Hawaiian shirts and Liverpool FC jerseys, and local team Somerton Town FC held a minute's silence.

Ms Haskins said: 'He would always check in on elderly people during his rounds - all the neighbours loved him.