Roger Annies advised people how to reduce their junk mail

Roger Annies, 45, attended a disciplinary hearing after circulating his own leaflet on his round in Barry, south Wales, about unsolicited mail.

Royal Mail said their "door to door" service was vital to its business and keeping costs to customers down.

Some residents in Barry said they may start a petition to support Mr Annies.

Following the hearing in Cardiff, Mr Annies told reporters he was not allowed to comment, but confirmed he was still employed by the Royal Mail.

Amarjite Singh, acting south east Wales representative for the Communication Workers Union, said : "He will have to wait seven days now to find out what the outcome will be.

TO STOP JUNK MAIL, CONTACT: Unaddressed mail - Opt-Outs, Royal Mail, Kingsmead House, Oxpens Road, Oxford, OX1 1RX Addressed mail - Mail Preference Service (MPS), Freepost 29, LON 20771, London, W1E 0ZT or call 0845 703 4599 Source: Postwatch

"The matter is now finished and it is just a matter of awaiting to hear what the decision will be.

"He gave his version of events about what was involved and whether he acted as he did through malice or whether it was a misunderstanding."

Mr Annies delivered a leaflet to households on his round which gave instructions on how to stop receiving "unwanted post".

But the father-of-one, from Barry, was suspended when his actions came to the notice of Royal Mail managers.

Mr Annies is originally from Germany, and Mr Singh said although his English was good, it was his second language and he was capable of making mistakes.

"Everything is now being weighed up," he said.

"The worse case scenario is that he loses his job. We all hope that it will not come to that," he added.

'Fed up'

Karen Sacrel, who lives opposite Mr Annies in Barry, said some people were talking about starting a petition to support him.

She told BBC Wales: "We totally feel it's unfair, and he is all for the people.

"I've spoken to other people and they don't want junk through their mail either. We get loads of junk and we're totally fed up with it.

"He was doing us all a favour but unfortunately he's had a lot of trouble over it.

"We think they should give him his job back and a pat on the back for thinking on behalf of the people. He's a very loyal postman."

Barry councillor Robert Curtis said: "All the local ward councillors had a discussion about this and in principle they support what Mr Annies is doing.

"If the Royal Mail do manage to silence him then we will carry on with his campaign and make sure all residents know about the opt-out service regarding junk mail."

Royal Mail has said it delivers less than a quarter of the UK's unaddressed mail saying "if we do not deliver this mail then rival companies will".

When asked about the disciplinary hearing, a spokeswoman for the Royal Mail said they would not issue a statement .