A ROYAL Mail postie has been replaced after allegedly dumping letters in Basingstoke.
Royal Mail confirmed a postal worker had "wilfully delayed" a number of letters in Lychpit.
It comes after Lychpit resident, David Ross, 66, expressed concerns to the sorting office that he had not received a letter he was expecting.
The retired ambulance service worker, who lives in Badger's Bank, also contacted MP Alex Brewer, who wrote to Royal Mail and received the following response:
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"I regret that a number of letters for some addresses including your constituent had been wilfully delayed.
"I am sorry for any concern this has caused and I would like to reassure you and your constituent that we are in no way complacent about such problems with our customer’s mail.
"We constantly review security to ensure we are taking all practical steps to eliminate any threat to the integrity of our service and we have zero tolerance towards this type of behaviour.
"All mail was retrieved and those that were delayed have now been delivered, including items for the Badgers Bank. A new postie has been assigned to this delivery round and at the present time mail deliveries to Badgers Bank are taking place six days a week, when there is mail available to deliver.
"I would like to reassure you that should a delivery round not be completed on a particular day, it will become the priority the following working day."
David told the Gazette that he and fiancé Mary were "taken aback" by the response, adding that he thinks it is "absolutely disgraceful."
He said: "To receive a letter from the MP and Royal Mail saying a postie is dumping letters, it's hard to believe.
"Especially at this time of year when people are posting presents and vouchers. People might not get Christmas presents because of this."
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: "Lost mail is a serious matter, and we have processes in place to investigate and resolve such issues.
"We can assure residents in Lychpit who received this letter that all their outstanding mail was delivered ahead of Christmas. Our normal service resumed in time for the Christmas period."
It was unclear what action has been taken against the postie at fault, Royal Mail declined to address the individual.