A SOUTHAMPTON widow who has had milk delivered to her home for 77 years has had her service stopped - because she refuses to order online.

Pam Khan from Swaythling has been getting regular pints on the doorstep since her parents bought their family home in 1944.

The 78-year-old says that, over three generations, milkmen have dropped off an estimated 13,500 bottles.

But that came to an end last week after almost eight decades as the milk company stopped taking orders over the phone.

Pam Khan has had milk delivered to her home for 77 years.Photos by Solent News.

Pam Khan has had milk delivered to her home for 77 years.Photos by Solent News.

The former Southampton University cleaning supervisor was told to set up an account online via a leaflet before April 24 or company Milk & More would stop all deliveries.

But Pam, who lost a leg to a disease 25 years ago, has been left outraged at the loss of her "lifeline".

Mrs Khan lost her left leg after getting an ulcer and then contracted necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease, and was in hospital for 13 weeks in 1996 after which she could no longer work.

She said: "Treat your customers especially your long serving customers, with dignity and don’t question their intelligence.

"We are individuals and far as I was concerned, I was going to be supporting their services for the rest of my life as I have done for my whole life up until now.

The company Milk & More sent out a leaflet on April 24 asking customers to set up an online account.Photos by Solent News.

The company Milk & More sent out a leaflet on April 24 asking customers to set up an online account.Photos by Solent News.

"Milk is - especially to us older people - a lifeline. If we can have a cup of tea in our hand, well, yippee!

"I wanted to speak out not only for myself but for other people, too. I should not be dictated to. They say I’ve got to go online in case I order any extras such as orange juice or bread.

“Unless I go online, I will not have my milk delivered and I’ve now not had any milk for well over a week."

Owned by dairy company Müller, Milk & More hanged to an online-only delivery service on April 24 claiming the move was necessary to 'secure the future of the British doorstep delivery service'.

But the venture has been met with concerns that vulnerable and elderly people could be cut off from a service that they rely on.

Pam Khan, 78, from Swaything.Photos by Solent News.

Pam Khan, 78, from Swaything.Photos by Solent News.

Pam added: "I am an amputee and with my age and during Covid, getting milk delivered was a lifeline for me.

"I'm used to being independent - it doesn’t hold me back. I adjusted to life, you get over it. It’s not life ending, it's life changing - that’s how you have to look at it.

"But getting the milk delivered was definitely helpful for me.

"I use milk every day - I've got tea in my veins instead of blood."

A Milk & More spokesperson said: “Our decision to move Milk & More to being an online only business is not one we have taken lightly.

“It is important to stress that a failure to adapt and modernise our business would lead to its decline including the inevitable withdrawal of services from local areas and serious consequences for the 2,000 people who work for Milk & More.

This is why, in order to protect the jobs of hundreds of our colleagues and suppliers, as well as secure our future, we have had to become an online only business.

“We acknowledge and accept that there will be people who can’t or don’t want to move online, that still want their milk delivered. This is why, in these cases, we are very willing to help them, where possible, find an alternative supplier."