Royal Mail stops delivering to street for two months after postman hurt in dog attack

A dog attack which left a postman with deep wounds has left a street in Salford without deliveries for almost two months.

A dog viciously attacked the postman while he was doing his rounds in Buckingham Road, Swinton, in September.

The Royal Mail employee suffered cuts to his arm, wrist and calf and was taken to A&E.

Following the attack, Royal Mail has suspended deliveries to the street due to ‘concerns over the safety’ of their employees.

Residents of the 70 homes on Buckingham Road have had to collect their parcels and letters from their local post office instead.

Residents say they have missed hospital appointments, and told the M.E.N how elderly people who live on the street find it difficult to make the trip to their local post office to collect their parcels and letters.

“It’s miles away. Our car is off the road at the moment and there are a lot of elderly people on this road,” said one resident.

“They’ve shut off the whole road, even people at the bottom of the road won’t get their post.”

“There’s no indication of when it’s going to be sorted.”

The Royal Mail has placed information notices on street lamps along Buckingham Road.

But locals say there has been some confusion, with some saying their mail is kept at another post office further away.

“Everything was diverted to a post office near the East Lancs first,” explained one resident.

“I went there last week to pick up the mail and they said it’s been moved to the post office closer to here.

“When I went there, they said they received the mail unorganised so they sent it back.

“That’s the last we’ve heard of it and we’ve been trying to find our mail ever since.

“It’s not like there are dogs running wild, no one is in fear of dogs running about, but obviously they take these incidents very seriously.

“It’s basically Christmas so we have a lot of parcels being delivered, and we need them.”

The Royal Mail says it is assessing the street on a daily basis to ensure the welfare and safety of its employees before deliveries resume.

“Royal Mail can confirm that there is a delivery suspension in place on Buckingham Road due to concerns over the safety of postmen and postwomen following a recent dog attack,” a spokesperson said.

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“We have notified all impacted residents of the suspension and have made arrangements for impacted customers to collect their mail from the local Post Office should they require.

“The police have also been informed.

“Daily assessments and observations are taking place with a view to resuming normal deliveries as soon as we can do so safely.