Widnes resident's fears over postal service after £80 went m

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Widnes resident’s fears over postal service after £80 went missing in post http://www.runcornandwidnesweeklynews.c ... -32666043/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A WIDNES resident is furious after £80 went missing in the post.

Michael Hodgson, of Wellington Street, said he fears the cash was not the only item to go missing in recent months.

He told the Weekly News that a friend had reported a £40 video game missing and another acquaintance had not received Tesco gift vouchers.

His £80 in cash had been a gift from his mother in the North East and was sent by recorded delivery.

Mr Hodgson said he was at work when a postman tried to deliver it and had left a card telling him to pick it up from Widnes Royal Mail delivery office.

The card containing cash was posted in September.

But he said staff could not find the item when he visited to retrieve it.

Mr Hodgson has complained to Royal Mail and his mother has submitted a claims form.

He said: “It seems strange that it all seems to be happening down here.

“They’ve said that my mum’s put her claim in too late now but we’ve got letters from October showing that’s we’d complained.”

Royal Mail said it would not comment on his acquaintances’ claims because they are ‘hearsay’.

However, a spokeswoman said: “We are sorry to hear of the problems the customer has experienced and apologise for any inconvenience caused. Regrettably, we have been unable to locate the missing item as the movement of first class, second class, including recorded signed-for mail, is not logged in any way as it passes through the postal network.

“This item of mail was sent by recorded signed-for mail, which is not segregated from the huge bulk of other mail in our daily postbag and it is not tracked and traced on its journey through our operational network. We cannot therefore definitively determine exactly what has happened on this occasion.

“We would always advise customers to use special delivery for sending items of value, including cash and gift vouchers, as special delivery items travel through a separate, secure network and the items are tracked at each key point in our system. This service also offers increased compensation if required.

“Customers should contact our Royal Mail customer service team 08457 740740 with any enquiries about their mail service.”