Post a long way off course

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Most of us would think Street in central Somerset has little to mistake it for New York City in America.

There are, after all, few in the way of skyscrapers, taxis are not yellow and although Street has its share of landmarks they do not quite equal the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty, about 3,350 miles away.

And neither does Street, population about 11,000, share much with the city of Glasgow, population in excess of 550,000.

So one Street couple have been left scratching their heads as to why – within the space of a few weeks – they've accidentally received mail destined for both cities.

Potter, lecturer and experimental archaeologist Eddie Daughton and his wife Rachael moved to number 136 West End in Street two years ago.

All was well until the last month when they received two very different envelopes.

"We had one drop through the letter box a couple of weeks ago – just before we went on holiday – addressed to 136 West 34th Street, New York, sent with a postmark from London," he said.

"Good Lord I thought, the postman has got lost.

"I suppose the first digit of 34th could look like a backwards E, so I kind of understood how such a mistake could be made, perhaps by a computer or something.

"We put it to one side, to sort out when we returned. But as we got back another letter popped through the letterbox addressed to an ironmongers in Glasgow, addressed to 136 West Nile Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G1 2RD.

"That letter was actually type-written.

"You would have thought the postman delivering the letter might have spotted the mistake, but obviously not.

"You wonder how the service is going to be when it becomes privatised."

The letters have now been sent on their way, with a message on the back of each one explaining they were wrongly delivered to Somerset, UK.

Royal Mail spokesman Tom Prendergast said: "Most of the mail is sorted by machine into the postal rounds and it maybe that for some reason these two pieces of mail were given wrong codes," he said.

"We would have liked to have thought that this would be picked up before it was posted through the letterbox, but at times our postal staff are dealing with huge amounts of mail."

[DirtyHarry]

Memo to Tom Prendergast.

You, and other managers like yourself, have fooked-up delivery staff.

Maybe that's why postal workers couldn't put right your fook-up, dildo.

[RedBagMan]

We would have liked to have thought that this would be picked up before it was posted through the letterbox, but at times our postal staff are dealing with huge amounts of mail."

... and there's us thinking mail volumes are down ...

[DGP1]

Not our problem, I only get 2 seconds to look at, digest the information and put it into the appropriate slot, I don;t have enough time to work out the fine details of the addresses.
I had one today that was the same - same address, same name but different area

[blue1873]

Tom Prendergast is blaming the machines for wrongly coding mail,
after all the money that's been spent on "modernisation",he should
be red-faced coming out with that excuse.Possibly he had
to say that because he knows there are'nt enough manual sorters
left to blame

[axeman]

belive he has commited a crime not 100% sure but isn't it an offence to deface an item of mail he's no right to scribble anything on the envolope ? anyone know for sure

[Lounge Lizard]

So Street would best be renamed Clarkstown, except there's one of them in New York too !
Seriously though quite a lot is missorted by the machines misreading addresses, not just by us humans.

[hubbahubba]

Seen loads of similar mistakes by IMP sorting machines over the years.Was told by the lockheed martin contractor(they provided thr AI hardware and software,that the machines could sort to a much more detailed spec,but would of cost more,so RM said,"nah,we'll have the basic version thanks!"Anyone surprised?....

[Lounge Lizard]

Seen loads of similar mistakes by IMP sorting machines over the years.Was told by the lockheed martin contractor(they provided thr AI hardware and software,that the machines could sort to a much more detailed spec,but would of cost more,so RM said,"nah,we'll have the basic version thanks!"Anyone surprised?....

Lockheed Martin
But shouldn't we boycot all mail sorted by these machines given the news that ;

"People are being urged to boycott next month's UK's census because the US arms manufacturer responsible for Trident is involved in gathering the information.
Protesters say they are willing to break the law and face a £1,000 fine and a criminal record by refusing to fill in the 32-page questionnaire. Resistance to the decennial census is growing as a coalition of anti-war groups, pacifists, religious organisations and digital activists begin raising public awareness about the role of Lockheed Martin, America's largest arms manufacturer."