£50 Fixed Penalty for dropping red rubber band

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.dgstandard.co.uk/comment/dum ... -22569887/

SIR – I was interested to read the article about one of our loyal and hard working mail delivery people from Royal Mail being handed a £50 fixed penalty notice for allowing a small rubber band to fall out of their mail bag. What can one say?

These mail people deliver millions of articles all over our country on a daily basis. They deliver letters of good news, sad news, bills, Christmas cards, all on a timely basis, in all weathers, rain hail, wind and dark mornings.

It’s a very responsible job making sure that the customers all get the correct letters and parcels delivered to them and on time.

Now back to the small red elastic band, and the £50 fixed penalty notice. The Royal Mail in the course of delivering mail use millions of elastic bands each year, as it is the best and most economical way to hold bundles of sorted mail together for delivery to the right area and postcode.

For a mail delivery person to be handed this £50 fixed penalty notice is to say the least beyond belief. Here was someone out delivering mail to the general public doing their best and they are handed a fixed penalty notice for one small biodegradable elastic band.

This when the centre of Dumfries is heavily littered on a daily basis, For years now this has been allowed to happen and is still happening.

It’s time a lot more was done to clean Dumfries town streets and deal with the littering that happens within it on a daily basis.

If it can be done successfully in towns such as Castle Douglas, and Kirkcudbright, there is no reason for it not to happen in Dumfries.

Take the plastic litter bins that are placed at strategic points along the lengths of our new cycleways for example, these bins are continually full.

The public do their best to put their litter in them but they are so full people have to leave their litter lying at the base of them.

It would be good to see them emptied on a more timely basis, or does it work on a similar principle to the bus shelters that sit on the Whitesands? They are only cleaned twice a year, January, and July, the rest of the time they are so dirty you can hardly see through the glass.

So, instead of concentrating on our busy Royal Mail delivery people where sometimes a rubber band may fall from their bag, why not get on with a number of more important issues that have been left or just ignored for far too long.

D R Slater

Dumfries

[andy2007]

That's disgusting! To be fined, for accidentally dropping an elestic band from your bag, is crazy! As has been said in another Thread http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=13421 These elastic bands, cause a serious threat to wildlife. But there is a major difference betweenan accident (as in this case), and someone being lazy, and simply dropping them on the floor. Instead of trying to hang on to them.

[Pat Ostman]

That's disgusting! To be fined, for accidentally dropping an elestic band from your bag, is crazy! As has been said in another Thread http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=13421 These elastic bands, cause a serious threat to wildlife. But there is a major difference betweenan accident (as in this case), and someone being lazy, and simply dropping them on the floor. Instead of trying to hang on to them.

Most people in our office NEED to save them as in the DO they have not ordered any for weeks. Not a bad idea from the managers except after their initial use they wear out VERY quickly and can even break apart in your bags spilling the mail about.

[DGP1]

That's disgusting! To be fined, for accidentally dropping an elestic band from your bag, is crazy! As has been said in another Thread http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=13421 These elastic bands, cause a serious threat to wildlife. But there is a major difference betweenan accident (as in this case), and someone being lazy, and simply dropping them on the floor. Instead of trying to hang on to them.

Most people in our office NEED to save them as in the DO they have not ordered any for weeks. Not a bad idea from the managers except after their initial use they wear about VERY quickly and can even break apart in your bags spilling the mail about.

You can use them about 3 times before they start breaking, I've got the welts on my arms that prove it.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

That's disgusting! To be fined, for accidentally dropping an elestic band from your bag, is crazy! As has been said in another Thread http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=13421 These elastic bands, cause a serious threat to wildlife. But there is a major difference betweenan accident (as in this case), and someone being lazy, and simply dropping them on the floor. Instead of trying to hang on to them.

Most people in our office NEED to save them as in the DO they have not ordered any for weeks. Not a bad idea from the managers except after their initial use they wear about VERY quickly and can even break apart in your bags spilling the mail about.

You can use them about 3 times before they start breaking, I've got the welts on my arms that prove it.

Its like being on a firing range when its time to bundle up at out DO. You can the "ping" followed by the drawn in breath as another of Croziers "one use only" patented design rubber bands fails and nearly takes the eyes or gonads of another unlucky postie. Friendly fire Royal Mail style.

[DGP1]

That's disgusting! To be fined, for accidentally dropping an elestic band from your bag, is crazy! As has been said in another Thread http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=13421 These elastic bands, cause a serious threat to wildlife. But there is a major difference betweenan accident (as in this case), and someone being lazy, and simply dropping them on the floor. Instead of trying to hang on to them.

Most people in our office NEED to save them as in the DO they have not ordered any for weeks. Not a bad idea from the managers except after their initial use they wear about VERY quickly and can even break apart in your bags spilling the mail about.

You can use them about 3 times before they start breaking, I've got the welts on my arms that prove it.

Its like being on a firing range when its time to bundle up at out DO. You can the "ping" followed by the drawn in breath as another of Croziers "one use only" patented design rubber bands fails and nearly takes the eyes or gonads of another unlucky postie. Friendly fire Royal Mail style.

Maybe we can ask for protective eyewear (and a full suit of armour ).

[andy2007]

That's disgusting! To be fined, for accidentally dropping an elestic band from your bag, is crazy! As has been said in another Thread http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 18&t=13421 These elastic bands, cause a serious threat to wildlife. But there is a major difference betweenan accident (as in this case), and someone being lazy, and simply dropping them on the floor. Instead of trying to hang on to them.

Most people in our office NEED to save them as in the DO they have not ordered any for weeks. Not a bad idea from the managers except after their initial use they wear about VERY quickly and can even break apart in your bags spilling the mail about.

You can use them about 3 times before they start breaking, I've got the welts on my arms that prove it.

Its like being on a firing range when its time to bundle up at out DO. You can the "ping" followed by the drawn in breath as another of Croziers "one use only" patented design rubber bands fails and nearly takes the eyes or gonads of another unlucky postie. Friendly fire Royal Mail style.

Maybe we can ask for protective eyewear (and a full suit of armour ).

Yes, just ask the Uniform Helpline for Protective Goggles. We have to wear them, when we're changing the Batteries on the FLTs. They make you look rediculous, but if they'll protect your eyes from Battery Acid, then elastic bands won't be a problem.