No post for two months

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.northdevongazette.co.uk/nort ... 3A32%3A843" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PEOPLE living in a South Molton cul-de-sac have received no post for the past two months after their postwoman was bitten by a dog.

The Royal Mail withdrew deliveries to the 17 householders in Spearfield Close after the incident on November 16 last year.

Residents missed out on the cheery plop of greetings cards through their letterboxes during the festive season and are still having to travel about half-a-mile into the town's delivery office to pick up their mail.

Now they are getting fed up and are asking the Post Office why the whole Close should suffer. They want the situation brought to an end.

Householder Jane Bagg said: "We are sympathetic towards the post lady, who sustained a nasty bite. She is a very nice lady and we can see her side of it. But we cannot understand why the Royal Mail should stop delivering to the whole Close."

Residents had received a letter saying a health and safety investigation was taking place and the post would not be delivered, she said.

People had complained individually, but just been told that the investigation was still ongoing. It was good that the Royal Mail should protect its workers, but people had put up with the situation and it was now time it was resolved. The paper boy and others still delivered in the Close, she pointed out.

Neighbour Nicholas Thorne said that he ran a business and needed his post. But the delivery office was only open for collections from 9am-12noon on some days and he found it impossible to get there when he was working.

Resident Ronald Strutton said the situation had been going on "a bit long." It was a bit of a chore if you were waiting for something in the post, he said. Or you could make a special trip to the delivery office only to collect junk mail.

A statement from the Royal Mail said: "As a caring and responsible employer, Royal Mail takes very seriously the safety of its employees. Unfortunately, following a serious dog attack on one of the delivery staff in Spearfield Close, South Molton, we took the decision to suspend the delivery of mail to addresses in the road as we could not guarantee the future safety of our employees.

"Since the suspension of delivery, arrangements have been in place for customers of Spearfield Close to collect their mail from South Molton Delivery Office. We are currently reviewing the situation and, if satisfied our staff can deliver safely, we will look to restore deliveries as soon as possible.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Well I think they were right to suspend the deliveries and I also did a search on the area for news stories and came across this piece
3.5 years old but I somehow don't think an area that has that sort of problem in 2005 will have become a model estate since http://www.devon24.co.uk/northdevongaze ... 3A46%3A693" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[not me]

and what has the dog owner to say on this?
obviously theres an ongoing issue but no just send the postie in regardless so you can get your mailsort

[apple]

nice to see someone having some balls for once with regard dog attacks, suspend it till the situation is resolved

[brothermagrew]

We are currently reviewing the situation and, if satisfied our staff can deliver safely, we will look to restore deliveries as soon as possible.

What happens then if in Royal Mail's considered opinion deliveries are to be restored but the staff for that area of concern refuse to deliver?

Remembering that according to Royal Mail's own Dealing with Dog Attacks - Good Practice Guide - Delivery staff and other staff working outdoors understand that they are under no obligation to collect or deliver mail to an address where they feel threatened by a dog at large and that every attack and incident of menacing must be reported to management.

A slight contradiction in terms to say the least.