Herbert, an evacuee from the London Blitz, who became a well-known figure in her adopted community of Kidlington, has died, aged 94.

Mrs Herbert, who was postmistress in Garden City for 17 years until her retirement in 1973, came to the village with her family when her employer, the building company Taylor Woodrow, relocated to the area.

She threw herself into war work, running the local comforts and savings club. After the war, she decided to stay.

She worked for market research firm Nielson's in Ship Street, Oxford, and later for Webber's and Elliston and Cavell's stores.

A committed Christian, she recognised the need for a church in the south of Kidlington, and with help from friends, turned an abandoned hut on the site of the former Kidlington Zoo into St John's Church.

When she became the sales agent for the expanding Garden City, she managed to convince her company boss, Frank Taylor, to provide land for the existing church, and later pushed further to persuade the church council to buy the adjoining house for a vicarage.

In the 1950s, she opened a sweet and cigarette shop in the second parade of shops and flats in The Broadway, later adding a newsagent's outlet and a sub-post office.

After the death of her husband, William, she married Alfred Herbert, who helped her run the business until their retirement.

Mrs Herbert was a founder member of the Kidlington Young Wives, the Kidlington Dancing Club and the Kidlington Centre management committee. She also became president of the Kidlington Guides' Association and was a helper at the village's Luncheon Club.

She is survived by her daughters Ann and Judith, five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.