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The Royal Mail has launched an investigation after hundreds of letters were found dumped at the side of a busy road. The post, which included bills and personal letters, was collected by volunteer litter-pickers who were clearing hedgerows and grass verges by the A47, near Hinckley.
Efforts are now being made by the national delivery service to ensure that the discarded letters reach their intended recipients. The discovery was made by a bus driver who was waiting in a layby in Leicester Road before picking up local schoolchildren.
She alerted a group of volunteers called the South Leicestershire Litter Wombles whose members were working in the area. Volunteer Bobbie Baker said the letters were tied up in bundles with elastic bands and “strewn across hedgerows and the grass verge”.
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Mrs Baker shared a photograph of the recovered post, which included NHS mail, to the Spotted Hinckley Facebook page. She said: “While we were out tidying up a stretch of the A47 just south of Earl Shilton and Barwell this week, a lovely lady bus driver called us over to show us a large amount if mail dumped in the hedge. There were about 200 to 300 letters in all.
“It was in a hedge next to the layby, bundled with elastic bands. Not in a bag. The lady bus driver pointed it out to us so we scrambled in to the undergrowth to retrieve it. Some of it was quite a way in.
“After retrieving them, which was no mean feat as they were deep in the brambles and hawthorns, I contacted the Royal Mail and dropped them off at the Hinckley Post Office.”
She added: “I feel very sorry for anyone who has been waiting for important letters as there were quite a few from the NHS and other public services. I don’t want to mention the areas, but as I have dropped them off at the post office, I’m sure they will be back in the system soon.”
The discovery was made on Tuesday, October 11, and the post handed into the Hinckley sorting office the following day. Mrs Baker said that there was no Royal Mail sack found with the fly-tipped letters.
As such, there is also no indication that it was dumped by a Royal Mail employee. However, the mail delivery service has confirmed that the matter will be fully investigated.
A Royal Mail spokesman confirmed that the bag had now been handed in. He said: “The security of customers’ mail is a high priority for the Royal Mail. We are investigating the contents of this bag, and cannot comment further until this investigation has concluded.” concluded.”
The South Leicestershire Litter Wombles were set up in 2019 by 55-year-old Bob Lee, from Glen Parva. He launched the group together with two friends after being angered during a walk across fields near his home at the amount of cans, plastic wrappers and other litter he encountered.
The group now has almost 4,000 members and regular organises litter picks across the Blaby, Market Harborough, Hinckley and Lutterworth areas. It is always looking for new volunteers. To get in touch with the South Leicestershire Litter Wombles on Facebook click here.
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