The UK's 10,000 milkmen and women are little short of a national institution, a cultural practice that has been unique to this country for many years.

But with the growth of supermarkets, and their price wars, the sound of milkmen clunking and trundling their way round our streets in the small hours has become increasingly rare.

Nigel Jackson: "We're here for a service."

A pint of milk in superstores averages 25p-30p, but delivered to your doorstep it's at least 10p dearer. Only just over a quarter of all milk bought is from the milkman; the bulk is from the shop.

No wonder numbers of milkmen and women have been falling by 8% a year. And now, a threatened consolidation of dairy produce giants could put a further squeeze on the nation's milkmen.

Predictions of the end of the milkman have been made for some time.

But now the milkmen are beginning to fight back, thanks to a combination of new technology and sheer inventiveness. Around the country, milkmen - either employed by dairies or running their own franchises - have realised the way forward is to diversify their range and provide better services.

Many now offer deliveries not just of milk, but also eggs, fruit juice, bread and potatoes. In some cases, the range even extends to nappies, potatoes, Cornflakes, flowers and boxes of chocolates.

One dairy giant is even promising discounts on supermarket prices for telephone orders.

Life-savers

In Northern Ireland, milkmen launched Doorstep 2000, a campaign aimed at winning new customers, with pledges of regular delivery times and 100% order accuracy.

Years ago, there were many more milkmen

Earlier this year, they also teamed up with the fire service to deliver smoke alarms and replacement batteries, backed up by television adverts and leafleting.

Milkmen have often raised the alarm for housebound people in trouble; the idea of this was to help save even more lives.

Other hi-tech inventions have also reached as far as good, old-fashioned milk deliveries.

With the rise of Internet shopping, milkmen - having clung onto their livelihoods in lean times - now find themselves ideally placed to take advantage of the latest convenience trend.

Nor are they averse to new gadgets. Answer the door to the milkman this week and instead of finding someone with notepad and pencil, you're more likely to see someone using a hand-held computer terminal to record every transaction.

Bills are calculated with hand-held computers

Nigel Jackson, who has had a milk round in the Midlands for 13 years, is one of those who has diversified and now even sells lavatory rolls.

But he thinks the traditional advantages of having a milkman are still relevant, too.

"I think it's more the personal touch - if you look after the customer, which I try to do, they're quite willing to have you."

His customers say deliveries are handy if the weather's bad or if someone is housebound; they appreciate his being jovial. Having a daily visitor reassures the elderly.

Mr Jackson is optimistic about the future of his trade: "I don't think we'll ever die out completely. We're here to do a service and as long as people want that service, we will be here."

Already, the rate of fall in milkmen's numbers has been halved from several years ago. The challenge to reverse the trend has begun.