The wife of a postman who disappeared a week ago has appealed for him to call her.

Richard Burton was last seen when he left his home in Collingwood Avenue, Didcot, last Tuesday, to represent his colleagues at a trade union meeting.

The father-of-one told his wife Pauline he planned to catch a train from Didcot Parkway station to Oxford before getting a lift to the meeting in Alvescot.

But the 54-year-old, who worked at Didcot’s Royal Mail delivery office, never arranged a lift from Oxford, did not arrive for the meeting and has not been seen since.

Tonight, 48-year-old Mrs Burton appealed for her husband of 26 years to get in touch.

She said: “If you don’t want to come home that’s fine, but just let us know you are OK.

“I just need to know you are all right and if you need some time to yourself, that’s understandable. We just want you back.”

Didcot-born Mr Burton has delivered post in the town for eight years.

His wife said that on the day he went missing, he had left home at 6.30am, cycled down Broadway and stopped to withdraw £300 at a cash machine.

She said CCTV showed the father-of-one calling in at the delivery office, where a colleague who spoke to him saw him head off in the direction of Hitchcock Way.

Mrs Burton added: “It’s completely out of character. The morning he left, he was wearing tracksuit bottoms, which is unusual. He always wears shorts.

“There has been a lot of crying this week and I’ve felt sick.

“During the day I’m not too bad. I try to keep busy, apart from I can’t be more than six feet away from the phone.”

She said her husband had gone missing eight years ago, when he travelled to Polzeath, Cornwall, where he spent family holidays as a child.

The receptionist at Didcot power station added: “He was missing for 11 hours. It was a sort of mini-breakdown, because of the stress he was under where he used to work.

“We’re hoping he has gone to Cornwall this time. The police are doing a poster campaign there, putting them up all around the area where he went last time.”

Mrs Burton said her husband’s disappearance was out of character, as he had not seem stressed, although she said he could have been worrying about their dog Bonnie, who is being treated by vets.

Their daughter Nicola, 23, an art student in Leeds, also asked her father to let them know he was OK, adding: “Please get in touch.”

Mr Burton is 5ft 3in tall, of heavy build, and wears glasses. He was last seen wearing navy blue tracksuit trousers and a dark green, thigh-length jacket.

Call Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505.