Failing to deliver: Where the post went missing for Years

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Failing to deliver: Streets where the post went missing for four years

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... years.html

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To say that Moira Ellice's post was erratic is something of an understatement.

Nothing would arrive for days, then a bundle of letters would turn up.

When her daughter married, gifts that friends and family swore they had sent failed to materialise.

And her husband, Neill, who is general manager of a golf club, was forever chasing members for missing subscriptions.

Now the mystery of the missing mail has been solved with the arrival of a letter from Royal Mail, written in a low-key official manner.

'Mail for your local delivery area has recently been recovered after being withheld from delivery by a Royal Mail employee,' it said.

'In some cases, items of mail may be a number of years old. In some instances, due to the volume of items recovered, it would be inappropriate to deliver through your letter box.'

Yesterday, the scale of the problem became apparent as it emerged that 280 residents in an upmarket Ipswich suburb had allegedly fallen victim to the 36-year-old postman, who has been arrested on suspicion of theft.

It is understood that thousands of letters and parcels that should have been delivered over a four-year period were found at his home in the Suffolk town.

The haul includes wedding invitations, credit card statements, solicitors' letters, gifts and cheques.

One of the victims was a student who did better than he expected in his A-levels and requested application forms for Cambridge University.

But they failed to turn up and he went on to take a place at Bath University instead.

The postman was arrested after Royal Mail received a number of complaints and launched an inquiry.

Around 90 per cent of the victims live in Bucklesham Road, with the remainder living on streets that run off it. Detached houses in the area sell for up to £800,000.

A few residents have already been reunited with their mail. Others are anxiously waiting for it to arrive or are arranging to pick it up from a Royal Mail office.

Mrs Ellice, 59, a former art and design teacher, has taken delivery of a sack containing 100 letters, which included a cheque sent in April by a friend as a wedding present for her daughter.

'Our post has been erratic over the past few years,' she said. 'We used to get nothing for a week and then lots of mail wrapped in a rubber band.

'It was very embarrassing when my friend's cheque didn't arrive because I had to phone her up and get her to write another one.

'I always thought our postman was a reasonably pleasant person. We always gave him £10 at Christmas as we thought he was turning out in all weathers.'

Mr Ellice, 58, added: 'I was just staggered by the amount. The only comment Royal Mail made was that the postman had passed all their tests and they were as surprised as anyone else.'

Marine pilot Simon Grainger, 42, said: 'The invitation for my brother's wedding never came. I also had a share certificate for around £300 which went missing. I had to pay £50 to get a replacement sent.'

His wife, Chrissie, said she had written to Royal Mail about post that failed to arrive but had been assured nothing was wrong.

The postman has been released on bail. He is due to report to Ipswich police station on December 11.

Royal Mail confirmed it had 'recovered a significant number of items at an address in the town'.

A spokesman added: 'We have written and apologised to all customers affected.'

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ments.html


Hundreds of residents miss out on mail including wedding gifts and legal documents
Hundreds of residents living on two streets have missed out on importance pieces of mail including wedding gifts and legal documents over the past four years.

Thousands of deliveries, also including credit card statements and university applications, failed to reach their destination.

A 36-year-old postman has been arrested on suspicion of theft and released on bail.

The Royal Mail sparked a probe after one resident, Chrissy Grainger, wrote to them to complain that her post had gone missing.

They raided a nearby property and found a "significant" number of items stashed away, showing that two entire streets had been affected for four years.

In some cases there was so much undelivered mail that it could not be posted and residents had to go and pick it up at the post office.

On Wednesday residents of Purdis Farm Lane and Bucklesham Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, received a letter from the Royal Mail said that mail "has recently been recovered after being withheld from delivery by a Royal Mail employee".

It went on: "In some cases items of mail may be a number of years old. In some instances, due to the volume of items recovered, it would be inappropriate to deliver through your letterbox."

Mrs Grainger, from Purdis Farm Lane, said: "We had share certificates go missing, they were small amounts but we couldn't ever redeem them. We had a wedding invitation go missing from my husband's brother, which we thought was quite strange.

"I think it is going to be surprising when I find out exactly what was taken."

Malcolm Boreham, a former payroll manager who has lived in Bucklesham Road for 32 years with his wife Janice, said he had had two suspicious incidents with his post this year.

On one occasion he complained to Royal Mail officials after a birthday card was tampered with and money was missing from the envelope, while a receipt he posted home from his holiday in the Channel Islands failed to arrive.

He said: "It will be interesting to see if that receipt is among the items they are going to bring me. I know that was addressed correctly because I did it myself."

Moria Ellice, 59, of Purdis Farm Lane, said: "Our post has always been erratic. We don't know what we haven't got because you don't know what has been posted to you. I'm thinking that maybe I won £1million on the premium bonds. My daughter got married recently and there were presents that didn't arrive."

Other documents that failed to arrive included a Cambridge University application form for an A level student, who is now studying at Bath.

A spokesman for Royal Mail pledged to investigate the theft thoroughly together with Suffolk Police.

She said: "We can confirm a postman has been arrested in Ipswich over allegations of theft and delay of the mail following the recovery of a significant number of items at an address in the town.

"Investigations into the case continue and we are working closely with police."

She added the Royal Mail had a "zero tolerance policy against any instances of delaying or interfering with the mail" and added: "We have written and apologised to all customers affected and all mail recovered will be delivered, we would urge any customers to contact us direct if they wish to discuss the matter further."