Lymington now has an “official” gold post box in honour of Olympic hero Ben Ainslie.

Days after performing a U-turn, the Royal Mail painted one of Lymington’s post boxes gold to mark Ben’s achievement as the greatest ever Olympic sailor.

No one was more pleased than Lymington businessman Rob Smith, 54, who painted the box in the early hours of August 11.

He had been expecting the Royal Mail to do it following Ben’s latest gold medal-winning triumph.

But bosses decided to decorate one of the post boxes near Falmouth where the 35-year-old grew up and learned to sail.

The box became Lymington’s biggest tourist attraction, with hundreds of people queuing up to have their picture taken beside the unauthorised tribute.

The Royal Mail eventually decided to paint the box and withdrew their complaint against Mr Smith, who will face no further action.

The box is likely to stay gold for about six months.