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The slow-moving queue outside Wokingham Post Office
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Wokingham parcel collection office queues out on the pavement

By Jon Nurse
November 16, 2012

Angry customers have blasted safety measures introduced at a parcel collection office after a woman was hit by a post van.

Huge queues blocking the pedestrian crossing and Post Office entrance have been snaking down the pavement since Royal Mail slashed opening times by more than half, following the accident.

The woman was clipped by the van as it passed her in the entrance to the delivery yard in Broad Street two weeks ago.

Families have been forced to queue for up to an hour after collection times were reduced to 10am to 12.30pm Monday to Saturday so staff can man the gate to supervise people coming in and out to minimise further accidents.

Becky Galbraith, 35, who queued for an hour in the rain on Friday morning with her five-month-old baby, said: “It’s a disaster.

“They say it’s because of health and safety but the queue is blocking the crossing and the Post Office.

“And at 12.30pm everyone in the queue was let inside the gates which completely negates any health and safety issues. It made a mockery of the whole thing.”

Lorraine Fowler, 44, of Heather Close, Finchampstead, said: “I arrived at 11.30am and the queue was all the way down Broad Street.

“I’ve never seen so many people upset. Some were there for the third time trying to collect their parcel.

“It’s totally unacceptable. There were more health and safety issues for people waiting on the street.

“One incident over however many years shouldn’t change the whole policy for collection.”

Staff at the collection office are looking for a new arrangement to lengthen opening hours. A Royal Mail spokesman said: “A lady was clipped by a van, she wasn’t injured.

“But following a review of vehicle movements and visitor access, we have reluctantly decided to reduce the opening hours to minimise the risk of any accidents.

“The hours chosen are when we have the least amount of vehicles present. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience but the safety of everyone at the site has to be our priority.”

Jayne Lewis, 32, of Tiffany Close, queued for 35 minutes on Friday with her three-year-old Erin.

“They want to find a solution but this isn’t it,” she said.

“It was a nightmare being in everyone’s way.

“We were having to restrain Erin from the busy road as lots of people were trying to get by.

“All this in the lead up to Christmas as well – I’m dreading getting any parcels.”

Customers can have items requiring a signature or that are too big for their letterbox delivered to a neighbour.

They can also call 08457 740 740 or go to www.royalmail.com to have items redelivered on a convenient date, or to another address in the same postcode area.

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According to this week's Woky Times as from the end of the week, there will be a counter in the post office for collecting parcels. That is one of the suggestions I put in my letter to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail last week. Possibly coincidence. Possibly my letter had some impact!

Prue Bray, Winnersh
21/11/2012 at 08:23

I got a reply to, and a follow up email ..

Peter Turner - very pleased I'm nothing to do with Wokingham Borough Council (Apart from contributing to their ill spent funds)

Peter Turner
20/11/2012 at 19:53

Good work Prue. A tiny collection window (in terms of time as well as in the physical sense) is not appropriate for a service clearly in huge demand. Please keep chasing. As a councillor, you'll have much greater impact than us 'plebs' writing to the Chief Exec and being dismissed as 'grumbling'.

mavdo, Wokingham
20/11/2012 at 17:25

As this did not seem to be getting any action at local level, I wrote to the Chief Exec of the Royal Mail about this on Thursday, including a photo I took of the queue. I have had a reply today saying she has asked for someone in her "senior team to investigate this for you straightaway". Hopefully someone will see sense and improve the current arrangements asap. Prue Bray Leader of the Lib Dem group on Wokingham Borough Council

Prue Bray, Winnersh
20/11/2012 at 15:36

I appreciate that something needs to be done because of the minor incident that happened but to shorten the hours means that more people will be put in danger with having to queue down Broad Street. Surely for a health and safety matter, if the opening times were actually longer it would be better as it would mean that less people would be queuing as they would have more options to get their collection.

As the ability to collect in the morning is now not available would it be possible to open an evening collection from 6-8pm each night so that people are able to collect parcels after they have finished their working day. This would make more sense than only 2.5 hours during the day.

raymears, Woosehill
20/11/2012 at 10:27

Stupid customers getting in the way when they're about to start their break. Could they not just use one of the windows inside the post office?

Dave35
20/11/2012 at 09:38

e-mail the managing director of the Post Office to express your displeasure. That's what I have done.

Her name is Paula Vennells:-

paula.vennells@royalmail.com

HatsOfDoom
19/11/2012 at 09:13

If the hours were sensible and the man who stops people at the gate worked at the counter there wouldn't be a queue.

PoneRana, Wokingham
18/11/2012 at 11:33

I'm the last person to call for privatisation, but any private sector company doing this would soon lose all their customers. With Royal Mail we have no choice but to put up with their abysmal service (even with normal opening hours the queue at this counter moves slower than snail pace). With hours of 10am - 12:30 how am I supposed to pick anything up, when like most people I'm at work?

chopper81, Finchampstead
17/11/2012 at 23:30

H&S might come first, but you still have to provide your customers with a service they can use and don't have to queue for literally hours in the freezing cold, which is also a H&S issue. Royal Mail, this is an absolute farce. Sometimes you deliver a "sorry you were out' note because you've already left the parcel behind, then I have to take an hour, at a tiny slot that you decide, to come and pick it up. This is quite literally a disgrace and as a monopoly, the government should make Royal Mail fulfill it's commitment to its 'customers' by opening PROPERLY. Last year we had extra hours at Christmas. This year we have barely any. And all because of the absolute incompetence of some of your drivers.

mavdo, Wokingham
16/11/2012 at 17:23

@DX C: the double near-miss I experienced was just a few feet from the counter. The woman and her buggy were the correct side of the yellow line but the van driver (and it is a tight fit, to be fair) just judged it incorrectly. He did come and apologise after he'd parked. I do think it's a dangerous place to have the pick-up counter.

Hazel, Wokingham
16/11/2012 at 15:24

@Damiano_Tommassi

I assume the person was hit by the entrance, the rest isn't a particularly tight fit and is no more a case of staying behind the yellow line than at the railways... who don't have employees specifically to monitor it.

I sympathize with them, neither the law nor the low barrier to litigatation are their fault. Nor can they do much about the layout, in the short term anyway. Though I wonder if they could use the parcel inlet at the main counters. Presumably not, or they'd be doing it. Or will be.

It's going to be horrific in December.

DX C
16/11/2012 at 14:51

Why not move the parcel collection to one of the empty shops. There are plenty of them available.

PoneRana, Wokingham
16/11/2012 at 14:16

Forget about the queues the shorter hours make it impossible for some people to collect a parcel. It used to be possible to do it before work at the risk of being a little late but no longer.