I worked for the Royal Mail for a year and had to work every weekend while I was there – with an employee resorting to drinking VODKA on their shift

A former Royal Mail employee has laid bare the struggles of the postal service after working at the company for a year. 

Delivering mail from the company’s West Sussex depot, Gareth Roberts recounted how he had to work every single weekend of his year-long stint.

Writing for The Guardian, Mr Roberts also revealed that one employee was so overwhelmed by their workload that they resorted drinking a one-lire bottle of vodka while on shift which was found ‘on his lap’ with ‘a sack of undelivered mail on the passenger seat’. 

Having quit his job in the media, Gareth was tasked delivering 120 parcels a day from the depot, which he says was one of the largest in the region. 

Expecting it to be an orderly, efficient operation as a result, he was surprised to find that the depot ‘looked like it had been abandoned after an earthquake’.

Mr Roberts revealed that one employee was so overwhelmed by their workload that they resorted drinking a one-lire bottle of vodka while on shift. Pictured: File image of a bottle of Grey Goose vodka

Earlier in April, the firm warned that up to 1,000 jobs could be axed under bombshell plans put forward to slash its second-class letter delivery service.

It outlined cuts to non-first class letters by delivering them only on every other weekday – and scrapping Saturday deliveries entirely.

The postal giant said the shake-up could save it up to £300million a year but warned it could see 1,000 roles canned.

The service’s plight that was witnessed first-hand by Gareth meant he and others had to work extremely demanding shifts and were burnt out as a result. 

He wrote: ‘One guy started smoking weed during his shift: a customer smelled it and he was quickly fired. 

‘Another guy was found slumped over the steering wheel of his van, a sack of undelivered mail on the passenger seat and an empty litre bottle of vodka in his lap.’

He also highlighted a ‘brutal’ Christmas period that saw some workers have to post 25 letters through one letterbox, such was the enormous backlog of mail. 

Gareth added that, one day, he was stopped by a man in his sixties, who had not had any post for 10 days. 

He said the man described the situation as: ‘Unf******-believable is what it is!’

After choosing to quit the role in March, Gareth said: ‘The manager just nodded when I told him; there was no conversation about it. It’s just expected. 

‘I left feeling empty and disillusioned at the catastrophic failure to pilot this amazing institution into the future with an iota of dignity.’

Having quit his job in the media, Gareth was tasked delivering 120 parcels a day from the depot, which he says was one of the largest in the region (File image)