Keresley woman's sensitive post found wedged in hedge

A pile of sensitive post including a chequebook and bank statement belonging to a Keresley pensioner has been found in a hedge.



A neighbour handed Patricia Robinson, 72, the mail on Monday morning leaving the Instone Road grandmother “flabbergasted”.

When her daughter contacted Royal Mail to ask why her post had been wedged in a hedge they said that staff would be retrained.

But Patricia says that thieves could have made a killing if they had spotted the discarded chequebook.

She said: “I was flabbergasted, utterly shocked. I couldn’t believe that someone could be so lazy.

“It would have taken 30 seconds to walk from the hedge to my front door and post these items.

“My neighbour posted everything through my letter box on Monday. When I heard them drop I thought something was odd because it was so early in the morning.

“Normally my mail isn’t delivered until midday.

“When I spoke to my neighbours they explained what had happened and where the mail had been found.”

It isn’t the first time Patricia and her family have fallen out with Royal Mail.

On her granddaughter’s birthday a card containing money – sent from family in New Zealand – went missing.

When it arrived three weeks later it was wrapped in plastic, torn open, and empty.

The words “your mail has been damaged and resealed” were written on the envelope.

Now Patricia and daughter Susan McGivern want to know why her mail wasn’t properly delivered this time around.

Patricia, who uses a mobility scooter to get around because of chronic arthritis, said: “We want answers.

“The worst thing about it is chequebooks are pretty distinctive items. Their weight and shape is a real giveaway.

“When I saw my regular post lady and told her what had happened she was absolutely disgusted.”

Royal Mail spokesman Val Bodden said: “Royal Mail handles 62 million items of mail six days a week and every piece of mail is important to us.

"We will be investigating this matter and our customer services team will respond directly to the customer.”

Last year the Telegraph reported that people living in Coventry had complained more than 50,000 times in the last three years because their post had gone missing.

And last July 211 letters sent by Coventry CHA Rambling Club disappeared leaving the club £100 out of pocket.

The only one delivered was sent to Spain.

When her daughter contacted Royal Mail to ask why her post had been wedged in a hedge they said that staff would be retrained.

When Adam Crozier joined Royal Mail as Chief Executive in 2003 one of his first actions was to fire the older, more experienced postmen and replace them with casual labour. I ran a successful mail order business at the time so was more aware of the changes than most. Crozier left Royal Mail before the full consequences of his cutbacks became apparent. There have been many other ill-considered 'reforms' since then, the full impact of which we have yet to witness.

There is a difference between a hedge & a letterbox, at least there was when I was a postie