Pillar box removed two months after closure of post office

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ELDERLY residents are furious after Royal Mail removed their local post box – months after closing down their post office.

The post box, which was outside the former Bilford Road Post Office, Worcester, was removed on the weekend of June 13-14.

Royal Mail has since apologised and said it will replace the box, but is considering a site on the other side of the busy Bilford Road outside the Costcutter shop.

That suggestion has caused anger among residents and local county councillor Mary Drinkwater, who said Bilford Road could be “lethal” for elderly residents crossing to reach a new post box.

Norman Dunkley, of Kerry Hill, off nearby Drover’s Way, said he only found out the box had disappeared when he asked his son to post a letter for him on Tuesday, June 16.

“He came back and said it wasn’t there anymore. I want to know where the post box has gone,” said the 82-year-old. “Nobody told us it was going.”

Meanwhile, Gerald Bulling, of Bilford Road, wrote to your Worcester News, saying: “Having lost our post office, I was astonished to find our post box too has now been removed. Royal Mail don’t seem to care for the welfare of the many elderly residents who live in this area.”

There is no pedestrian crossing near Costcutter.

Mary Drinkwater, who campaigned to keep the Bilford Road post office, which closed in October last year, said another box was needed to serve people in the Drover’s Way area.

“Bilford Road is among the most dangerous roads in Worcester, according to county council figures,” she said. “You’ve got a lot of elderly ladies who go along there and one or two have almost had it when crossing that road.”

A spokesman for Royal Mail was unable to say why a replacement had not been installed before the other box was taken away because the company’s collections manager was away on annual leave.

“We would like to apologise following the post box’s removal,” he said.

“It is our intention to replace the box and we have identified a possible site on the opposite side of the road.”

He said a date could not be fixed for the installation of the new post box until talks about underground utility pipes had taken place. Meanwhile, the nearest post box for people not wishing to cross Bilford Road is in Sainsbury’s supermarket, off Windermere Drive. There is also a post box in Kingston Avenue.