Mail bosses disciplined after post is dumped in trailer

Published on Monday 22 June 2009 10:04

FIVE managers at Royal Mail have faced disciplinary action following an internal inquiry into the discovery of tens of thousands of undelivered letters found dumped inside a lorry trailer.

Bundles of post were found in the back of an articulated trailer parked in the yard of the Edinburgh Mail Centre in Sighthill in September.

The figure is believed to be around 20,000 although Royal Mail bosses have been unable to comment on the number.

Speculation centred on whether the mail had been stashed away to make it easier to hit delivery targets which result in bonus payments being made.

Five managers at the depot have been investigated by Royal Mail chiefs over eight months and faced reprimands over the affair.

Sources say that two of the managers have been dealt with and kept their jobs, while two more are appealing against the inquiry's findings and one case remains outstanding to be decided next week.

Royal Mail bosses today declined to comment, saying it was "an internal matter" which was being "dealt with". They would not comment on the nature of the allegations against the managers.

But sources at the mail centre claim the inquiry's findings have been "swept under the carpet", with mail chiefs reluctant to sack any of the managers "in case the truth came out".

One source said: "Everyone was sworn to secrecy over this under threat of disciplinary action. The bosses didn't want the public to know about it. They would rather it all just went away."

Another source said: "If a postman had been hoarding letters and failing to deliver them then they would be dismissed, as has happened in the past, and rightly so. They would've also faced criminal charges in the courts. No-one will lose their jobs over this. There's a lot of pressure on the managers to meet delivery targets within the Royal Mail. That's what their bosses are interested in."

It is understood that independent auditors visited the centre in the east of Edinburgh last year to examine their books and discovered tens of thousands of letters had been undelivered.

Postal workers claimed that computers were taken away from the facility for closer inspection.

A spokesman for the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said: "We are aware that a matter was being dealt with internally."

A spokesman for Consumer Focus Scotland said that "issues like this are damaging" for Royal Mail.

He added: "While we can't comment on decisions about staff, it's important for Royal Mail's image and reputation that the same high standards are expected of every member of staff whatever their role in getting the post to people's homes and offices."

Last May, it was reported that nearly a fifth of Edinburgh and the Lothians' first class mail was not delivered on time last year.

Just 83.2 per cent of first class post was delivered the next working day in the EH postcode area during 2007/08 – with last summer's strike action being blamed for the drop from 93.8 per cent in 2006/07.