Villagers’ anger as Royal Mail removes postbox ‘without warning’

Rural residents and community leaders have been battling for more than a year to get their post box back. The box, which was designated as an NHS priority facility during the covid pandemic, was used by more than 20 households in the hamlet of Grub Street, near High Offley and Eccleshall.

Residents and members of High Offley Parish Council have complained to Royal Mail and say the box was removed from its wooden post “without notice or warning” in summer 2021. They added there was no other post box nearby.

A number of reasons have been given why the facility was removed and a replacement “was not deemed necessary”, residents claim. They say they were told its wooden post was damaged and the box was removed on health and safety grounds, while concerns were also raised about its location on a narrow road.

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Parish councillor Mark Turvey said: “This is clearly untrue as the wooden post that used to support the post box is still in place and not rotten. The nearest post box is now in High Offley and is 0.7 miles from the old post box.

“The matter has been raised with MP Sir Bill Cash and MP Paul Scully, parliamentary under-secretary of the state department for business, energy and industrial strategy, who were unable to assist in this matter. The leader and deputy leader of Stafford Borough Council have written to the Stafford Royal Mail Depot, but with no response.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the disappointment that some customers have expressed about the removal of this postbox. The stand on which this postbox stood became unfit for use, so we removed the postbox in April 2021.

“The postbox was on a narrow road on which Royal Mail drivers and customers could not park without blocking the road, and was not heavily used, so we did not install a replacement. Customers can find details of their nearest available postboxes at https://www.royalmail.com/services-near-you.”

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