Royal Mail won't deliver post to woman who has no pavement outside home
ROYAL Mail is refusing to deliver post to a 62-year-old woman – because there is no pavement outside her home.
Deliveries have been suspended to Muriel Malam's Newchapel home on health and safety grounds.
-
SHORT: The pavement runs out just yards from Murial's home in Station Road.
It follows concerns that postal workers have to walk along a busy country lane to reach her Station Road home.
Mrs Malam had initially been forced to make a 12-mile round trip to Butt Lane sorting office every week to pick up her mail following the suspension.
But Mrs Malam is now able to collect her mail from a nearer post office after her case was taken up by Kidsgrove Town Council.
She said: "Royal Mail stopped delivering about eight or nine months ago.
"I went to Butt Lane sorting office to see what had happened and why I wasn't getting my post and they said that it was too dangerous for the postman to deliver to my house because there's no pavement.
"So now I have to go and collect my post myself.
"I don't have many important letters, but there was one occasion when I had a hospital appointment and I didn't receive the letter until the day before so I could have quite easily missed it.
"It's ridiculous because I have lived here for 12 years and now all of a sudden my post has stopped being delivered.
"The postman used to come at about midday when it was light and wasn't busy on the roads, but now all of a sudden it's too dangerous."
Royal Mail has told Mrs Malam that deliveries have been suspended following a risk assessment at her home.
The firm has suggested that Mrs Malam could put a post box at the end of her drive to make deliveries easier.
But Mrs Malam says her postman would have to walk across her nextdoor neighbour's property to get to it.
She added: "I can now pick up my post from Kidsgrove Post Office which is a bit closer, but that is not the point."
Neighbours today spoke of their shock that deliveries had been suspended for one of the villagers.
Jimmy Crichton, aged 57, who is the landlord of the nearby Grapes Inn, in Station Road, said: "This decision beggars belief.
"I agree that Station Road is a bad road but there are bad roads all over the place and that doesn't mean people living in them have no post delivered."
Francis Thomas, aged 45, whose house is a few doors away in Station Road, said: "What a terrible way to treat this lady.
"It is not an easy bend outside her house, but I'm sure postmen could get down there safely if they are careful. "After all you get horses being ridden past her house and they come to no harm."
A Royal Mail spokesman confirmed that the company can suspend deliveries on the grounds of health and safety.
29 Comments
View all
by guest12345
Tuesday, January 24 2012, 8:13PM
“SHORT: The pavement runs out just yards from Murial's home in Station Road.
What it should read
SHORT: The pavement runs out just yards from Murial's neighbours home in Station Road. Murial's
home is another 80 or so yards around the blind bend.”
by Backdoored
Tuesday, January 24 2012, 6:50PM
“'If a car is coming the driver wont be able to stop in time and if they swerve out of the way, then they could be having a head on collision with another car'. -guest12345.
To approach a tight blind bend such as this one, at a speed which would not enable you to stop if for whatever reason someone was in your way (broken down vehicle -inured person lying in the road etc etc) -would not be conducive to safe driving as outlined in the highway code in this type of highly hazardous road situation.
But then, who cares about the highway code anymore -except those learning to drive with an Instructor sitting beside them. Rush rush rush -'It's a great life'...-if you don't weaken.”
by guest12345
Tuesday, January 24 2012, 5:50PM
“the photographer took a picture of the wrong house as he was to scared to walk around the bend to the house that is the problem....says it all”
by guest12345
Tuesday, January 24 2012, 5:43PM
“First of all the house in the picture isn't the one not been delivered to, That is her neighbour who padlocked their gate to stop the postman using the drive as a cut through and using the other gate to cut out walking around the blind bend. The road on the picture is where the postman must walk around and then walk back again. If a car is coming the driver wont be able to stop in time and if they swerve out of the way, then they could be having a head on collision with another car. If you look closely at the gate there is a big red postbox where they have there mail, any decent neighbour would let her share that postbox or have her own next to it. And it isn't 12 miles to butt lane office either more like 3. It was suggested months ago to have a postbox on the side of her fence between the properties near her front door so the postman could walk into her neighbours drive and lean over to post the mail, This wasn't acceptable.”
by Backdoored
Sunday, January 22 2012, 6:12PM
“@ -by focusboy
"@Clunk1234567
First of all you say "The house is on a busy main road with heavy traffic, the article states that". Well, don't believe everything that you read, the article is wrong.
Ummm...... Seems to be some confusion here shared by the two above posters.
Firstly, the article does not state what 'Clunk1234567' claims it states. (there is no mention of a 'main road').
Therefore, 'focusboy' -in telling 'clunk1234567' -not to believe everything he 'reads' -has gone one better -and not only 'quoted someone's 'mis-reading', but admonished the other for being naive, whilst at the same time perpetuating the error -as 'fact'.
This one, this time -the much lambasted Sentinel -came out in the clear.
Funny old world.”