Royal Mail sorry for South East Cornwall's missing post

[POSTMAN]

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ROYAL MAIL has apologised for the volume of post going missing after two of South East Cornwall's top politicians called on the company to launch an investigation to uncover the source of the problem.

John Turner, who represents St Ive on Cornwall Council, believes the loss of letters and parcels is widespread and has compiled a dossier detailing a few of the documents, money and goods which have disappeared.

He is working with Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall, in an effort to gain answers for local people.

Mr Turner began investigating when items he posted from Upton Cross to London did not arrive, and his neighbour's will went missing.

"I talked to other people and they'd had the same problem," he said.

"It's only when documents you're expecting go missing that you realise there's an issue. There's something going on somewhere."

Mr Turner said his wife's granddaughter phoned her, thinking she had forgotten her birthday. She had not received the card and was really upset.

"If she hadn't phoned, how would we know it hadn't arrived? We wouldn't," he said.

"Items which may contain money are being intercepted somehow. I want to make it clear I'm not in any way casting aspersions on our local postmen. I just want to get to the bottom of it and I want them to take it seriously."

Mr Turner publicised the issue on local radio and was inundated with calls and e-mails reporting items as diverse as photos, wedding cards, dozens of cheques and rings failing to arrive, leading him to believe the problem was widespread.

A lady e-mailed to tell him she was glad someone was taking a stand after sending presents to her granddaughter which never arrived. Another said she had resorted to opening an account with a courier service after items were repeatedly lost despite being sent by recorded delivery.

"What I want is some answers why mail is not arriving or is arriving late or damaged," he said.

"I would like for them to undertake an investigation and to resolve the issues."

Royal Mail spokesman Mike Norman said the company apologise to customers who experience problems.

"All mail received for delivery in the area is being delivered and we are achieving our quality of service targets every day," he said.

He urged customers with particular inquiries to contact Royal Mail customer services on 0845 7740740 or to visit the website http://www.royalmail.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; so it can be investigated.

Mrs Murray said she had sent a catalogue detailing a few of the missing items to Royal Mail head office who were looking into it in great detail.

She thanked hardworking postal staff and said she had been to thank them personally just before Christmas to see for herself the difficult task they undertook.

Mr Turner is asking anyone affected by missing mail to e-mail him at johnturner@corn wall.gov.uk