Postman refuses to deliver in cobbled street

By [lchurchill]

A POSTMAN is refusing to walk less than 20 yards along a cobbled street because it could be "dangerous".

But when his colleagues fill in for him, they happily walk along Bilton Terrace in Bideford, the town's last cobbled road, said resident Sally Bellamy.

Mrs Bellamy, 53, said she and her neighbours had suffered from an erratic postal delivery service for three years.

She described the situation as ridiculous and said although she suffered from arthritis in her ankles and other joints, she had no problem crossing the cobbles.

She said that, for health and safety reasons, her regular postman would only drop her mail off with a neighbour at the end of terrace — where he has to negotiate only a few cobbles.

But when he has a day off, other postmen will deliver straight to her door.

Mrs Bellamy wants some consistency in Royal Mail's service.

She said: "I've been told it's my path that's dangerous, but the slates have been there for 280 years without a problem.

"Courier parcels get delivered and fruit and veg gets delivered.

"They don't have problems — I don't believe my postman is endangering his life."

But Michael Dalton, from Royal Mail, said the company was making deliveries to the terrace, except when it was considered unsafe.

He said: "The road is in a poor state of repair and when wet or icy it can become dangerous.

"There are occasions when we have not been able to make deliveries and alternative arrangements have been made.

"We are in contact with residents and continue to seek a solution with them."

But Mrs Bellamy, whose family, ironically, ran the post office in Clovelly when she was a child, disputes that deliveries stop only when it's raining or icy.

She said she has gone through many dry weather periods without receiving any mail.

She said: "We're in a conservation area here and we're not allowed to take the cobbled slates up.

"Tarmac would make the terrace smoother, but it looks beautiful here.

"I don't think it is dangerous."