THE use of plastic tongs to post letters has coincided with a drop in dog attacks on York posties.
The number of incidents involving scared or angry dogs biting Royal Mail staff delivering letters in York fell by a third in the city over the last year.
There were 66 incidents of dogs attacking postmen and women in April 2013 to 2014, which dropped to 44 in April 2014 to 2015.
It has been suggested the drop is due to a campaign to raise awareness of the challenges faced by staff and the use of "posting pegs"- plastic gadgets which resemble folding rulers and are used so posties do not have to put their hands through letterboxes.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "Royal Mail’s Dog Awareness campaign continues to go from strength to strength raising awareness of the problems of dog attacks and the problems our postmen and women face when they are delivering the mail.
"However, last year there were still too many incidents in Yorkshire and we need to reduce this number further as even one dog attack on our people is one too many.
"We know that most dogs are not inherently dangerous, however, even the most placid animal can be prone to attack if it feels its territory is being threatened."
Royal Mail runs an annual campaign to encourage dog owners to take responsibility for their pooches and stop them from attacking.
The organisation last year issued 90,000 posting peg gadgets to its staff.
They also work with customers who have dangerous pets to agree simple steps to ensure they can continue to deliver mail.
The spokesman added: "Royal Mail believes that if we feel that there is a risk from a dog, or any other animal, at an individual address, we are committed to working with the customer to agree simple steps to ensure we can continue to deliver the mail safely."