Postman suspended over mail found in river

Oct 2 2009 by Stuart Wilson

A POSTIE has been suspended after dumping his sack of letters into a river.

Hundreds of important documents were found floating in the water by furious Royal Mail chiefs.

Now the postie, who works at the Ayr office, could face criminal charges.

It’s believed he was given a new route to cover – and handed a map for guidance.

Bosses must decide whether the postman panicked on the job or deliberately set out to ditch his delivery.

Sources believe it was an accident waiting to happen, with little training now given to workers.

One said: “These days the level of training is non-existent and you’re basically just handed a map.

“People are being flung from round to round and don’t have a clue where they’ll be one day to the next.

“It could be that this guy just panicked and instead of returning to the office with all that mail, he’s dumped it in the river.

“We’d heard that he was asked to resign to try and save face for the company, but then they found a lot more dumped mail, so it’s got more serious.

“It’s not the first time something like this has happened and sadly it won’t be the last.”

Areas affected by the swimming mail include Overmills Road, Masonhill and Holmston Road.

The missing letters are now lying on the floor of the Ayr sorting office to dry out.

And a Royal Mail spokeswoman confirmed that an investigation has been launched.

She said: “Royal Mail can confirm that a postman from Ayr delivery office has been suspended as part of an investigation into the intentional delay of mail.

“A quantity of mail has been recovered and is being dried out. The recovered mail will then be delivered with an apology letter to our customers.

“We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused by this incident and if any customers have any concerns about missing mail they should contact Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740 740.

“It is a criminal offence to tamper with or delay the delivery of mail and anyone caught doing so will face serious disciplinary measures.

“It is also likely that a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

“The safety and security of mail is of the utmost importance to this business and Royal Mail will not allow the actions of any individual to damage the good reputation of our thousands of hard-working postmen and women.”