Royal Mail apologises for delays caused by ‘dive-bombing’ seagulls

Royal Mail has written to residents of a coastal town apologising for delivery delays blaming dive-bombing seagulls for the inconvenience.

Householders in Liskeard, Cornwall, have received a letter from the Royal Mail warning them that the aggressive birds have been hampering postal deliveries in the area.

Ryan Lean, the Royal Mail customer operations manager for the Liskeard depot, acknowledged there had been “difficulties in delivering mail safely” because gulls are swooping at post office staff.

In his letter to residents dated June 20, Mr Lean said: “As you may be aware, we are currently experiencing some difficulties safely delivering to you and your neighbour due to seagulls in the area, swooping at delivering staff in order to protect their young.

“The purpose of this letter is to firstly advise you of the issues we are experiencing, but also to assure you that we will continue to attempt deliveries every day.

“If on any day we are unable to deliver to you safely, your mail will be returned to the Liskeard depot where it will be held securely until we can attempt delivery again the following day.”

A postal vendetta

The letter from the Royal Mail then gives residents two options, they can either wait for another time when seagulls might not be so aggressive, or they can nominate another address for their mail to be delivered to.

Mr Lean added: “I appreciate this is not ideal. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may cause but whilst Royal Mail is committed to providing a consistent daily delivery to addresses, we do place the highest priority on the safety of our employees.

“Rest assured that we will be monitoring the situation on a daily basis with a view to resuming normal service to you and your neighbour as soon as possible.”

A resident who did not want to be named said it seems to be the same seagull that’s nesting on the roof of her house that targets Royal Mail and Cornwall council workers.

She said: “We’ve had the same seagulls nesting for a few years, since I’ve been here. It’s always the same ones.

“They don’t attack me for some reason but the posties and any council workers are running for their lives.”

She added: “My next door neighbour who’s elderly got swooped and knocked over, but he admits he also throws stuff at them.

“I always greet them.”

The resident said they have never had warning letters before.

She added: “I don’t mind if there’s post delays, it’s just like Morrisons blocking off a section or their car park for baby gulls, we protect them and they protect their babies.

“I think they are incredibly cute even if the posties don’t agree.”