Royal Mail postal services suspended due to uneven roads

[pinstripe]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... fears.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... roads.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Postmen in one part of Essex have been ordered to stop making deliveries to houses on unmade roads due to health and safety concerns.

Residents in a small corner of Benfleet, Essex have been told they will no longer be able to receive deliveries because they live on roads with uneven surfaces making it too perilous for the postal workers to venture down.

Locals in the affected areas have said they are utterly perplexed by the decision as there has never been a problem with their deliveries in the past.

Many now face a round trip of up to hour in order to collect their mail from their nearest sorting office.

Doreen and Meredith Chatterton, who are both in their late 80s and have lived in the area for more than 40 years, said if the road surface was not too dangerous for them they could not understand why it was a problem for postal workers.

Mrs Chatterton said: “Royal Mail has said it's not delivering any mail at all to the ‘unmade’ roads, and there's quite a lot in this area. “We all had the letter from Royal Mail on Saturday and it starts now so we didn't even get any warning."

According to locals the letter stated that the decision had been taken following a health and safety review prompted by a number of “near miss accidents” on unmade road surfaces.

Mrs Chatterton said they would now be forced to travel 25 minutes each way to the nearest sorting office to collect their post.

She said: "We don't want to be doing that every day, especially with winter coming."

Sheila Stainer, another local resident who faces disruption, said she would struggle to get to the sorting office because she suffered from a spinal disability.

Mrs Stainer, who has lived in the area for 30-years, said: "The roads are not made up because we're on greenbelt, but I've never known one person to fall off their bike or slip on the road. They've done it without consultation from everyone or anyone."

Some residents are so angry at the decision that they have now launched an official appeal against the decision and are demanding full services are restored.

Royal Mail spokesman Sally Hopkins said the decision to temporarily suspend deliveries had been taken as a last resort.

She said: "We have reluctantly decided to temporarily suspend deliveries to a number of addresses in a particular part of Benfleet.

This is because the private, unpaved roads in the area are in a poor state of repair. That poor state of repair has meant some of our vehicles have been damaged and there have been some near accidents for our postmen and women.

“It is the responsibility of the residents to ensure that private roads are fit for purpose and do not constitute a safety risk. This is far from being a trivial matter and we will not compromise on the safety of our colleagues or the roadworthiness of our vehicles.

“We have already apologised to customers affected by this temporary suspension. We do hope that they understand our reasons for doing so. We have written to them giving details of how they can receive their mail – either delivery to an alternative address or how to collect items from us.

“We are keen to resume deliveries to these addresses. We will review doing so as soon as improvements are made to these roads.”

But it is not the first time the Royal Mail has provided a bizarre reason for disrupting deliveries.

In November last year a postman refused to deliver to one address in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk after complaining that the resident’s garden was too overgrown.

In another case in Portsmouth, a resident was warned he would his service suspended unless he took steps to keep his “aggressive cat” under control.

Elsewhere postal workers have faced more traditional hazards with an entire street in Plymouth losing its service following an attack on a postman by a Jack Russell called Rusty.

[mondeoman1]

Not content with bullying staff, they have now started on the public.

[POSTMAN]

Anyone from there on here,tbf the roads must be bad for this to happen.

[RedBagMan]

If it ain't the Mail - it's the Telegraph - why don't they just devote one page a day and call it "Let's knock RM" - maybe we should all conspire with the local newsagents/paper boys and boycott all houses that receive said newspapers ... that'll really give 'em something to moan about ...

[TrueBlueTerrier]

On DM it says Catherine Road - Google Street View makes it look bad

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=benflee ... 81,,0,8.18" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

catherine road.png

cathrine road 2.png

[POSTMAN]

And that no doubt is a few years old Teebs so chances are the roads are worse.

[DGP1]

TBH that looks in great shape compared to some lanes I've driven on, farm lanes that require a 4x4 or a tractor to drive along going to be a laugh when my DOM has to risk assess all of them and then send a letter to each of them telling them they're having their mail suspended.

[cyclemech1]

Is it coincidence that Park & Loop started on Monday (31st Oct) ?

These roads have been served for years by Posties, mostly ON BIKES, with hardly any mishaps.

The CDVs bottom out on the uneven surfaces and can't take it.

[brothermagrew]

Royal Mail exceptions to the delivery rule:
We cannot deliver to an address if this puts the health and safety of our staff at risk, for example, when an address can only be reached by crossing dangerous terrain. In this instance, we would suspend delivery to this address on a long-term basis. Or, if we suspend service following a specific incident, for example, if one of our staff is assaulted or attacked by a dog, the suspension is likely to be in the short-term.

We cannot deliver when it is difficult to access the address. The two most common reasons for a long-term suspension of this type are:

1. Where the address is on an island, or remote part of the mainland, with access only possible by boat or air. Where operationally possible, we will deliver on days that a scheduled plane or ferry service operates. If no scheduled services are available we try to deliver to islands and remote parts of the mainland once per week, as a minimum, where a contractor can be found.

2. Addresses on poorly maintained roads that require more than a 15 minute round trip by vehicle or foot can be categorised as difficult to access exceptions.


What's the likely outcome, well after all the media hype what's needed is a meeting between Royal Mail managers, the Local Authority, Benfleet residents and the Highway's Authority to thrash out an agreed package of solutions to enable a reinstatement of deliveries. These people who rubbish health and safety when it suits them should be reminded that there's
140,000 serious workplace accidents every year, 1,250 people killed at work every year, 1000 of those driving at work, Royal Mail vehicles travel 1.5 million miles every day and are involved in 20,000 accidents of which around 15 people are killed in fatal collisions so there's a big responsibility to reduce the risks.

[Stormproof]

All the roads in that area look in a crap state, wonder how much council tax they pay
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=catheri ... 34.97,,0,0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[POSTMAN]

The thing is,them at Dale farm have been so busy in the courts lately...

[24601]

This is all to do with World Class Mail.

[POSTMAN]

Hands up,who's Ivanna...
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9340088 ... eive_post/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[music4essex]

My mum told me about this yesterday and i had to explain why it happened preety much that the new revision came in last week, and H&S was probably mentioned why is right.

I remember years ago having to deliver by foot down a road just like it in east Sussex,

Should find out what is happening when I return to work next week minus cycle, got to walk into work as cycle not been returnded to me since it was taken away for replairs two weeks back

Essex mum, BTW this is the next town to us 4 miles away