Tunbridge Wells named most dangerous place for dog attacks on Royal Mail postal workers

A Kent town has been revealed as the most dangerous area in the country for dog attacks on postal workers.

There were almost 2,000 incidents across the UK last year – five per day – with 65 posties in Tunbridge Wells being set upon by out of control pets between March 2022 and this year.

Royal Mail says dog attacks are up 15 per cent from the previous year and have led to more than 3,000 days off work for employees.

Out of the 1,916 attacks, 65 were in the TN postcode in Tunbridge Wells, which has been in the top ten list for canine assaults for nine years running.

Bosses put the rising number down to a surge in dog ownership from 9.6 million in 2021 to 11 million in 2023.

Health and safety director Lizz Lloyd said: “The number of attack rises during the school holidays and in the summer when parents and children are at home and dogs are sometimes allowed unsupervised in the garden or out onto the streets.”

Just last month a 73-year-old man was forced to fight off a pitbull terrier in the town, prompting a call for tigther control on canines at a town park.

Malcolm Flanagan said he fears someone will be seriously injured or killed if measures aren’t enforced to control dangerous dogs after the incident at Dunorlan Park.

In January, a Boston terrier was rushed to emergency surgery after being attacked by another dog outside a petrol station M&S in St John’s Road of the same town.

In 2020, postal services on part of the Isle of Sheppey were suspended after a large dog on the loose “posed a threat” to workers.

Postwoman Kimberley Link, 50, suffered severe injuries when she was attacked by a dog loose in a garden in Eltham, south-east London last summer.

She said: “I can remember the dog pulling me to the floor then letting go of my elbow and trying to bite into the back of my neck.

A neighbour heard her scream and called an ambulance.

Ms Link added: “I was taken straight in for an X-ray and they found the dog’s tooth was still in my elbow.”

The most common place for attacks is at the front door (47%), then the garden or drive (27%) and through the letterbox (20%).

Postal workers also faced attacks from 25 cats and two birds.