Royal Mail tell Tilbury pensioner A4 envelopes not allowed

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No common Census - Royal Mail tell Tilbury pensioner A4 envelopes are 'misuse' of post boxNo common Census - Royal Mail tell Tilbury pensioner A4 envelopes are 'misuse' of post box

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A PENSIONER has criticised Royal Mail after being told that posting A4 envelopes was ‘misuse’ of a Tilbury post box.

Jack Doodes, 75, from Tilbury, had become concerned after seeing over-flowing post at the post box in Civic Square, Tilbury, when out ahead of the lunchtime collection.

But when he took his concerns to Royal Mail he was told people posting folded A4 envelopes were to blame for clogging up the box and that this was ‘misuse’ of the post box.

Speaking to the Enquirer, Jack said: “I went to the box at 8am one morning and it was brimful so I suspected it hadn’t been emptied the night before. I then went on to the sorting office to ask, but was assured it had been emptied at 5.15pm the previous evening.

“I was told the next collection was not until 12pm which was a full three hours away and thought that that didn’t seem satisfactory considering it was already full.”

When Jack raised the problem with Royal Mail he was stunned to be told that folded A4 envelopes were to blame for clogging up the post box.

He continued: “It’s absolute madness! Royal Mail claimed the box was being ‘misused’ and said that A4 envelopes were too large and should not be placed in the box - if that is so - then how will millions of people return their A4 Census forms when it comes to Monday, 28 March and it needs posting back?

“People are legally obliged to return their form and I am concerned that no action has been taken to fix the post box. If people cannot post it when the post office is shut then it will end up in the bin, is that what Royal Mail want?

“Last year I even reported the problem after I witnessed people dipping in and taking mail out of the box when it is full and reported it previously.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “The post box in Civic Square in Tilbury is of sufficient size for the quantities of mail posted in to it. The problem is that large items posted into the box can and do jam the box which can cause issues for other postings. Customers with larger items to post can take them into the post office which is also monitoring the box. This box has three different collections every weekday and if necessary we can arrange relief collections.”