Sack of recorded mail found dumped in street

AN investigation is underway after a bag full of recorded delivery mail was found dumped in a street in Bristol.

Martin Ash, 46, was walking his dog along St Peter's Rise in Headley Park on Thursday evening when he spotted a green sack in the middle of the road.

As cars were swerving to avoid the bag, Mr Ash, a night shift manager at a windscreen distribution warehouse, went to move it, concerned it could cause an accident.

But when he picked it up he was shocked to see the bag was full of around 20 recorded delivery items, from parcels to letters and jiffy bags.

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The sack had a label on it stating the items were first class collection and priority service items and had come from the Bristol Mail Centre.

Mr Ash, who lives at St Peter's Rise about 200 metres away from where he found the sack, said: "I saw the sack in the road and went to get it as I was worried that cars were having to avoid it and it may cause an accident.

"When I picked it up I noticed it was open and full of recorded delivery mail.

"The bag had been hit by cars and had been damaged.

"There was a mix of items inside including letters and parcels so I decided it would be best to hand it in to police."

Mr Ash took the sack to Broadbury Road Police Station on his way to work to hand it to officers.

He added: "I just wanted to get the sack back to its rightful owners.

"I have no idea why it had ended up in the middle of the road.

"Perhaps it had fallen out of a lorry or van or perhaps it had even been stolen.

"These are items that people have paid extra to have delivered and I don't think it's a very good service by Royal Mail if they end up lying in the middle of the road.

"In the run-up to Christmas a lot of these items could have been cards or presents with people paying for recorded delivery to ensure they got delivered.

"If it was me and I was relying on a recorded delivery service to get my items sent I would be pretty upset."

Royal Mail chiefs said an inquiry into how the mail ended up in the road was underway and the matter was being taken very seriously.

Royal Mail spokesman Adrian Booth said: "We would like to thank the customer who picked up this bag of mail which appears to have fallen from the back of a post van on Thursday evening.

"We are conducting an urgent internal inquiry to find out what might have happened.

"The safety of our customers' mail is of paramount importance and such incidents are extremely rare and we are taking it very seriously."

Mr Booth added that all the recovered mail was delivered on Friday.