Pensioners will have to struggle up a steep hill with their letters after the Royal Mail sealed off a Bradford on Avon postbox over fears its staff could slip on the path.
The box has been set into the wall in Tory for more than 30 years but was closed without warning amid health and safety fears.
Regular user Alan Harris went to post letters for his wife last week and found the box sealed up with tape, but with no indication why.
Mr Harris said: “When I asked they told me it was poor lighting, but now apparently it is uneven ground and they were worried it was a hazard for postmen. But it seems to be fine for all the residents who use it every day.
“They are 200-year-old steps, I have never heard such nonsense.There are old people going up there every day, I have never heard of anyone falling over.
“If it is a business decision because they don’t think they get much traffic then they should say that. But we wouldn’t be very happy about that as we’re losing a valuable service.
“This box has been here for a long time, certainly longer than I have which is 30 years. There was no notification or anything about it closing or to say why, people have just turned up there to find it all sealed off.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by the decision to seal the posting box at Tory.
“The box is not frequently used and Royal Mail collects only one or two items from it each week.
“We recently had two instances of Royal Mail employees slipping as they accessed the box and took the decision, given the low usage, the uneven terrain, and the number of alternative posting boxes in the area, to take it out of service.”
But Mr Harris’ wife Trudi, a self-employed animal behaviourist, says she alone uses the box to send about 10 letters a week to her clients.
She said: “I know other people use the box as well so to suggest there are only one or two a week is ridiculous.”
The nearest postboxes are now a 10-minute walk up and down Bradford’s steepest hill to Winsley Road or the town centre.
Fellow Tory resident Brenda Samuel said: “It is causing considerable inconvenience. Some residents are not very mobile.
“Other small postboxes in Bradford that are used less than ours have not been closed.”
