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A WOMAN claims she was left in disbelief after she witnessed an incident with a postbox in a Herefordshire town.
Ursula Pritchard, of Ross-on-Wye, shared a picture on social media showing a Royal Mail employee opening a postbox in the town’s marketplace.
But she claimed they “committed criminal damage” when a replica of the market house, which was on top of the postbox, was “destroyed” and found on the floor.
Ms Pritchard said she could not believe what she had witnessed as a Royal Mail worker was trying to open the locks on a postbox.
But a spokesperson from Royal Mail said the box is owned by the company and the employee was there to remove a knitted topper.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “A customer recently knitted a charming decorative ‘topper’ for one of our postboxes in Ross-on-Wye, in the shape of the local market hall.
“This topper sadly had to be removed because it had expanded in the rain, and so was preventing postmen and women from opening the box.”
The topper had got caught in the door, it required some force to free the lock, but the postbox was not in fact damaged by this, said the spokesperson.
“We are very sorry that the topper was then left on the ground next to the postbox, as that did not do justice to the creativity and skill that had gone into making it.
“We appreciate the time and effort that customers put into creating toppers and are always pleased to see them.
“When they are installed without our consent, we are happy to leave them in place, so long as they do not impede the collection or delivery of mail, as happened on this occasion.
“We have spoken to the customer who designed this topper and explained how appreciative we are of her efforts and will be working with her to avoid any similar misunderstandings in the future.”
