Joyce, 81, has even battled snow and ice to make sure people living in White Grit, near Minsterley, get their fill of the news. Neighbours have said they wouldn’t be able to get a paper when the weather turns bad without her efforts.

Now Joyce has been recognised for her incredible efforts with a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

She has been officially declared the oldest paper girl in the world and will take pride of place in the 2013 edition.

Mrs Pugh took on the job when she stepped into the shoes of her children Beryl and Patrick, who did the area’s paper round when they were schoolchildren.

For the past 40 years she has become a regular sight on her push bike, delivering the Shropshire Star six days a week in all weathers, racking up 10,800 miles in the course of her career.

Before her retirement from Walters Trouser Factory, in Bishop’s Castle, she delivered the Shropshire Star in the evening and worked in the factory canteen during the day.

Mrs Pugh said was nominated for the 2013 annual of the Guinness Book of World Records by her family and was surprised and delighted to receive a call from the publishing team this week.

“I didn’t know until Wednesday, but I knew there was something going on, but I didn’t know for certain what it was,” she said.

“Mr granddaughter was up and wanted to take photographs of me on the bike. I said ‘what do you want a photograph of me for?’ Then my daughter wanted my birth certificate. I said ‘what’s going on?’

“They said ‘you might find yourself in the Guinness Book of World Records’.”

She said her place in the record books was confirmed by phone earlier this week.

“They just asked me how far I went and how I delivered them. I deliver on a push bike and if it is too rough, sometimes I walk.”

Anne-Lise Rouse, for Guinness World Records, said: “I can confirm that Joyce appears in the Guinness World Records 2013 and her title is the oldest newspaper delivery person – female.”