Royal Mail has apologised after letters containing sensitive and personal information were found ‘dumped’ on a street outside a block of flats in Bedford.
A total of sixteen letters intended for seven different addresses were left unattended including letters from HMRC, Bedford Hospital, a Building Society, and a resident’s pay slip.
The letters were found when a resident returned home from work yesterday evening (17 February).
“I had to do a double take before I realised what I was looking at”, said the resident who asked to remain anonymous.
“I don’t understand how a postman can think that leaving sensitive post on the street for anyone to come up and take, presumably left there for hours, is an appropriate thing to do.
“It turns out my new bank card was part of the post left out on the street, left for anyone to access. Letters from HMRC and the hospital were also in there, as well as someone’s pay slip.
“I’m quite shocked that this was allowed to happen. Had this fallen into the wrong hands, a lot of us could have faced huge issues.”
The Bedford Independent asked Royal Mail for an explanation who said the postman on this round was a new starter.
“We are sorry that a delivery to this address did not meet our usual standards on this occasion”, said a Royal Mail spokesperson.
“We have a new starter covering this route and we will be going through our guidelines with them again to ensure they deliver mail safely and securely.”
No further comment was provided.
