Royal Mail halts deliveries to entire Doncaster street after postman slips on wet pavement

Two firms of accountants and a computer business have been told to collect their own post from the sorting office in damp weather after the accident, which was blamed on moss.

Managers at Doncaster’s main sorting office did manage to deliver a letter notifying the companies of their decision on Monday, saying the postman had slipped over last Friday.

But people with offices in the building on South Parade, Doncaster, said the Post Office’s reaction to the incident was “totally out of proportion” and “completely laughable”.

The letter, from delivery boss Carol Wagstaff, says: “It has been brought to my attention that on June 8, one of our postmen sustained injury whilst undertaking the delivery in your area.

“The incident occurred as a result of our postman slipping over due to the footpath and steps being covered by moss and algae and a health and safety risk assessment has been undertaken.

“This confirmed that the level of risk associated with this delivery is unacceptable due to the wet weather turning the footpath and steps into a dangerous surface to walk on.

“Under the circumstances, mail deliveries to your address will be suspended in wet weather conditions such as persistent rain, snow or ice, for health and safety reasons.”

Amanda Henwood, who runs an accountant’s business from an office in South Parade is one of three businesses to appeal against the decision and yesterday described the move as “bizarre”.

Mrs Henwood said: “The thing that really beggars belief is the apparent timetable of events. It took just 24 hours to do a risk assessment and decide we won’t get our post when it rains.

“Usually, it takes Royal Mail a month to let us know they are holding an item of mail on which postage has been underpaid, usually by something like 9p.

“When we pay this, plus the £1 surcharge, it takes at least a further week to send the item out, but when it comes to something like this it appears they know how to act fast.

“It just isn’t acceptable for them to tell us to collect our own post on days when the weather is wet. Will they pay for the time or the expense we will incur going to the sorting office?”

Mrs Henwood said the letter did not make sense, because there are no steps up to the offices and there is no sign of algae or moss on any of the pavements referred to in the letter.

Her concerns were echoed by Maxine Downes from Woodford and Co, another accountancy firm with offices in South Parade, which has also lodged a formal letter of appeal.

Ms Downes added: “In our business we need to be able to rely on the post, and with the recent price rises, with a large letter now costing costing 90p, this just seems to be going too far.

“We have no steps outside our premsises and if the pavement outside is slippery then surely that is something for them to take up with the council.”

Royal Mail spokeswoman Morag Turnbull said mail deliveries had been suspended in South Parade after a member of staff slipped on algae and moss on the pavement due to “adverse wet weather” and broke his shoulder.

She added: “Following a risk assessment of the area, we have informed customers in South Parade that we must suspend deliveries to their address as a precautionary measure until the pavement surfaces are improved.

“We have already raised this with Doncaster Council and aim to resume mail deliveries as soon as practically possible. In the meantime, customers can collect their mail from Doncaster Delivery Office.

“Royal Mail delivers to almost 29 million addresses across the UK so it is always a last resort if we decide not to deliver to a specific address or addresses.

“The safety and welfare of our staff is paramount and we only suspend deliveries if the safety of our postmen and women is at risk.”

Mrs Henwood said she had also complained to Doncaster Mayor Peter Davies and the borough’s highways department about the situation, but nobody from the council was available to comment yesterday.

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