MP Henry Smith fears temp staff to blame for missing mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

MP Henry Smith raises fears temp staff to blame for missing mail

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THE town's MP fears temporary sorting office staff could be stealing letters and presents that have been going missing.

Henry Smith has received a number of complaints from constituents that post has never arrived. He visited Gatwick Mail Centre, which deals with Crawley's letters and parcels, last week to see for himself how the sorting office operates.

His particular concern is that thieves may be targeting letters which look as if they may contain cash or other items of value.

He said: "It seems to be getting better recently but I have had a number of businesses and individuals complain to me about missing mail and suspected theft. The issue is possibly with some contract workers, not full time staff but people who are brought in at peak time, and it seems to be things like birthday cards.

"You can see what they are and there is a good chance there is a tenner inside. It's happening with mail going through Gatwick Mail Centre, and affecting RH10 and RH11 postcodes."

Mr Smith visited the sorting office in James Watt Way last Friday for a tour of the site.

Despite the MP's concerns, a Royal Mail spokesman said he was not aware of any recent problems at the depot.

He said: "Mr Smith was given a tour and met staff and management. If we uncover any cases of theft from the post, we operate a zero-tolerance approach.

"This stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who are honest and hard-working and who do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely.

"We will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust."

A spokesman for Sussex Police said anyone who thinks their mail has been stolen can call the police on 101. He added: "The Post Office has its own investigations department for incidents such as these and is empowered to make arrests and bring charges."

[steven100]

Not sure if it really is temp staff but the quality of rm service is declining, this could be reason.