CALSTOCK’s only priority and afternoon-collection postbox has been removed and residents are questioning, why?

The postbox which was situated on Fore Street outside the former Levines and is the only postbox in the centre of Calstock was removed on Friday afternoon by Royal Mail.

The missing postbox has sparked outrage amongst the local Calstock community as it was the only postbox in Calstock that provides an afternoon collection at 4pm. The other alternative postboxes in Calstock are situated at the end of Lower Kelly, Harewood Road and at the top of Church Street.

The postbox, that was removed on Friday was removed without any notice given to residents and residents feel let down by Royal Mail as no information was provided about the postbox.

Alastair Tinto, Calstock Parish Councillor said:

‘It was Calstock’s only priority postbox.

‘The 4pm collection was helpful for people working and those working from home.

‘No warning was given to anyone, not the parish council and not on social media. There wasn’t even a notice. We have just been left without any information.

‘Loads of people are concerned about this.’

Many Calstock residents took to social media to ascertain what happened to their postbox.

The fact that the postbox was the only one in Calstock offering a later collection appears to be the problem for the Calstock residents as the other postboxes in the area collect at 10am.

‘This seems to me to be a very high-handed way of going about things which shows scant regard by Royal Mail for their customers, said Alastair.

‘It’s pretty important for the village of Calstock.

The postbox had been situated within a wooden frame for the last 18 months that was constructed by builders while renovation work is being undertaken at Levines, to allow continued use of the postbox on Fore St. The recess had been working well, explained Alastair and hadn’t caused any problems.

However, there was another incident back in March last year where it was thought that Royal Mail blocked use of the postbox by taping up the box without warning after a cement mixer was left by the postbox.

Following the incident, Cllr Tinto spoke with both the Tavistock sorting office and the builder involved (who undertook not to block access at post collection time) and the collections were reinstated. However, after this most recent incident, Alastair feels that Royal Mail ‘don’t appear to have learnt anything about the need for communication with the local community’.

A Royal Mail spokesperson gave the following statement in response to removal of the postbox: ‘Upon inspection, this postbox was found to be beyond repair, and so had to be taken out of service. A replacement will be installed as soon as possible. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Customers can find details of their nearest postboxes on our website at https://www.royalmail.com/services-near-you#/’.