Blundering Post Office bosses think Thurso is an island

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Blundering Post Office bosses think Thurso is an island and tell customers to get ferry over to Orkney to pick up their parcels

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scott ... nk-2946855" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LONDON-BASED staff advise locals to take a two-hour ferry to find a post office even though there are others nearby in Caithness.

POST Office chiefs stunned residents of Britain’s most northerly town by advising them to take a ferry to pick up their mail.

The people of Thurso in Caithness were told they would have to make alternative arrangements while their local post office was closed for refurbishment.

And London-based Post Office officials helpfully suggested their best option was to take a ferry trip of more than two hours to pick up parcels and renew their car tax in Orkney.

The blunder came about because the staff responsible mistakenly believed Thurso was itself an island.

In fact, the nearest alternative post offices for the 9000 people of the town are Castleton, five miles away, and Halkirk, seven miles away.

Locals say Caithness is often assumed to be an island because it has a KW postcode – which belongs to Orkney capital Kirkwall.

Thurso councillor Donnie Mackay said: “There are a number of organisations who think Caithness is not part of the mainland and until we get rid of the KW postcode, we will see these mistakes.”

A spokesman for the Post Office said: “While we would heartily recommend a trip to beautiful Orkney on the ferry, we appreciate Longhope Post Office may not be a convenient alternative for people who usually visit Thurso Post Office.

“Alternatives include Castletown, Halkirk and Dounreay as well as the service operating from Britannia Village Hall in Dunnet.”

The Thurso post office at the Co-op in Meadow Lane will close on Wednesday, January 15 and reopen on Friday,
January 24.

[Nigel1505]

Heaven help us and these people are running the business. What hope is there for the rest of us.

[PhilthyPhil]

Heaven help us and these people are running the business. What hope is there for the rest of us.

I doubt this was a mistake made by 'Post Office chiefs', more likely admin staff who didn't bother to check google maps first