Postal Letter

Are Royal Mail postal workers allowed to leave the mail unattended?

Our post at work is often left unattended in the red Royal Mail bags on the street for about half an hour before they are actually posted. Not sure where the postman goes, it is annoying seeing our mail outside, and also worrying! We have previously found bank statements etc opened and left by the post box. I've asked the postman not to, but we seem to have a different one each week! What is the law, and who can I go to about this? Thanks!

Public Comments

1. no this against the law , you need to report this
2. We are not allowed to leave mail unattended and in a place where it is at risk. And we face discipliniaries if we do: http://www.westbusiness.co.uk/news/gloucestershire/royal-mail-fires-van43991432.aspx I'd ask a few things about your case first. About the mailsacks left for half an hour. It isn't physically possible to carry the whole day's mail in one sack, so it is broken down into between four and ten sacks. These are dropped by van at various locations along the route. They tend to be held by businesses (post offices, petrol stations, shops) and are picked up by the postman once he reaches that point. There are also sometimes red lockers on the side of postboxes which the postman can collect from, and sometimes houses of ex or current postmen are used. However, more relevant to you is the less secure drops. In my career, I've covered rounds with bag drops I wasn't too happy with. These have included people's gardens (although out of sight, they were accessible to anyone who's watched the postman drop them). Are the bags you see dropped by van and then picked up by another postman who delivers? If this is the case, what you're seeing is a bag drop. It does sound insecure, so I'd get in touch with management, and ask them to organise a more secure location. This can be done with a polite and calm phonecall to the local delivery office. If it is not a bag drop and the postman is leaving his bike on the street corner, with the bags attatched, it may be more secure than it looks. The bike is fitted with a lock, and the sacks are usually secured too. If its the case that your postman is just dropping the only sack he has and vanishing for a half hour break, this is unacceptable, and you should report it. However, it seems unlikely that this is the case, as I wouldn't think different postmen chose to ditch a sack unsecured at all, let alone at the same place. Its more likely that there's an operational reason for it. Again, it may actually be more secured than it first appears, but then again it may not. Next time, ask your postman the reason for him leaving it there. You can also ring up your local delivery office and speak to the local manager. He should be able to look into the situation and rectify it. Nine times out of ten a friendly call to the DO will replace the need to make an official complaint. About the opened mail, was it your own? Or just empty envelopes? I once found a load of empty envelopes on a street, and I was terrified someone had managed to get at one of my sacks. Turns out that it was just that it was bin day, and a binbag had ripped, so somebody had already recieved the mail properly and then thrown envelopes away. I can be emailed via my profile here, if you have any other questions, I don't mind, and I'd be interested to hear any response you get from the DO about your situation.