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Mail deliveries have been halted in a small Derbyshire village due to Royal Mail staff fears that they could be attacked by a dangerous dog on the loose. This has caused around 70 homes in the Midland Terrace area in Westhouses, near Alferton, not to receive mail until Royal Mail judges that the dog has been put under control.
The postal service suspended has suspended deliveries since Tuesday, September 17, as the lone dog had found ways through the gardens of a “large number of addresses” which had resulted in the dog causing injuries to their posties.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Deliveries have been temporarily suspended until we judge it safe enough to resume them. We are in the process of putting in place alternative arrangements for any customers who contact us and are unable to get to the Delivery Office to collect their mail.
“This is something we take very seriously and incidents can and have resulted in injury to our posties. Deliveries will resume when we are certain our colleagues will be safe whilst carrying out their work.”
Both Derbyshire police and Bolsover District Council have been dealing with the problem as reports were made to police about the dangerous dog all the way back in April.
A spokesperson for Derbyshire police said: “Officers are currently investigating reports of a dog being dangerously out of control in the Tibshelf Road area of Westhouses. The owner of the dog has been spoken to in relation to keeping his property secure – and has also signed a voluntary control order which will be monitored by officers.
“We are liaising with colleagues in the postal service to ensure that deliveries are able to begin as soon as possible.”
So while a date for the deliveries is currently up in the air, Bolsover District Council and Derbyshire police are working to remedy the situation.
A spokesperson for the council said: “As a warning had already been issued, this was escalated to a formal Community Protection Notice requiring the dog be prevented from straying. The owner was also issued with a £100 fixed penalty notice for a breach of the Public Spaces Protection Order in place relating to dog control.
“Since the Community Protection Notice was issued no further reports of straying have been received. If the notice is breached, then the council can consider seizing the dog and/or prosecuting the owner.”
