TERRIFIED posties are refusing to deliver letters to a Bognor home - because of the owner's ferocious cat.

They leave her mail next door with neighbours if they catch sight of marauding moggy Rummy, who spits and hisses if they come close. Despite the inconvenience, the cat's owner, mother-of-two Kathy Simmonds, 40, from Mansfield Road, still manages to see the funny side. She said: "He lets everyone else like the paperboy, the dustmen through...it's just posties he's scared of and doesn't like." Eight-year-old Rummy gets the run-around from Kathy's 23-month-old son, David, and even the family's pet hamster Ford Escort, who chase him round the house. He doesn't seem to mind that too much. But posties are another thing. Things came to a head last month when the bloodthirsty Burmese spat at a postwoman. The petrified postie pushed a note through Kathy's door saying: "Unable to deliver - threatened by cat!", and then beat a hasty retreat. So far no one has been injured by the Bognor bruiser, but Rummy's hissing and spitting still keeps the massed ranks of the Royal Mail at bay. Kathy, who lives with husband Bob, 41, toddler David, and daughter Kayleigh, seven, said: "I keep Rummy indoors between seven and ten in the morning when the post is delivered. He's never attacked anyone, he just spits at people because he's territorial." David Fitz, of the Royal Mail, said: "We take things like this seriously. The safety of our staff is paramount."

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