A crooked courier is out of a job after locals from Merseyside got suspicious over their missing parcels and found CCTV footage proving their fears were justified
Furious locals at Netherton in Merseyside have found out why their parcels kept going missing - but not before a thieving Evri delivery driver put a dampener on their festive season.
“Imagine how many people are missing parcels at Christmas," a local mum told the Liverpool Echo. "A lot of people don’t have a lot of money.
"Some won’t be able to afford to replace missing presents." The residents clocked that their packages were being stolen after getting delivery confirmation notifications from Evri, including photos of the parcels outside their door, but finding the parcels already gone when they went to collect them.
An Evri delivery driver has now been sacked after the community put in some amateur detective work and turned up CCTV footage that confirms their fears. Video captured on residents' cameras shows an Evri courier failing to knock on doors or ring doorbells before placing a parcel in front of a door.
After photographing the package, he'd then take off with it. Evri has confirmed the courier shown in the videos will no longer be delivering on behalf of the firm, saying it has a “zero-tolerance policy towards behaviour of this kind”.
Sharon Woodford, 44, ordered a pair of bracelets for her daughter and niece, both 13, for Christmas at a cost of £80. She got confirmation of delivery from Evri on November 17 but says the photo she was sent as proof of delivery showed the parcel in front of a neighbour’s door.
Footage from the neighbour’s security camera showed the courier place the parcel on the doorstep and photograph it before picking it back up and walking away. Sharon complained to Evri and posted about the incident on a local Facebook page.
“The community page lit up with people saying that they have had the same thing happen,” she said. “Imagine how many people are missing parcels at Christmas, and a lot of people don’t have a lot of money.
"Some won’t be able to afford to replace missing presents," she said. Chloe Harrison-King, 22, mum to a three-year-old and a one-year-old, caught footage of the same courier walking off with her parcel of clothes in similar circumstances.
“I’ve got no faith left in humanity at all,” she said. Former soldier Derek Wood, 55, from Netherton, described the problem as widespread in the area.
He said: “Are they called Evri because every parcel is going missing?” Derek ordered a flask for the gym, delivered by Evri.
He said that when he found his parcel it had been ripped open and the contents removed. “At this time of year, a lot of people will be ordering Christmas presents, and sometimes you haven’t got the time to replace them," he said.
"Stress levels will be going through the roof.” A spokesperson for Evri told the Echo: "Every parcel matters to us.
"We have a zero-tolerance policy towards behaviour of this kind, and the courier will no longer be delivering on behalf of Evri. We deliver 900 million parcels each year and the overwhelming majority of our 30,000 couriers are hard-working people who go out of their way to serve their local community and are highly regarded by customers who award them an average star rating of 4.6 out of 5.”