This report is being issued in response to a number of enquiries in relation to an incident involving an Agency worker which occurred near Bedford Delivery Office last Monday morning 15 October. 

CWU/HQ received a report that an Agency Worker who had been employed at Bedford DO was stopped by Police just after leaving the Delivery Office in a private car, after he was apparently spotted driving rather carelessly whilst attempting to read a map. The Police subsequently found four Delivery Pouches of Mail inside this individual's car, before discovering the Agency worker was driving the Vehicle without Insurance, Tax or an MOT. It is unsure at this stage as to whether the individual has a driving licence but we should not be surprised if he does not as quite obviously no checks what so ever were undertaken by local management.

The Police immediately impounded the potential unsafe, illegal, 'death-trap', private Car and which was removed from the scene on a Police 'load-loader' recovery vehicle from where it was taken to the Police Pound to await destruction by being crushed.

We were informed that the Police recovered the Mail Pouches and they did not go to the crusher with this potential "death-trap" car which, Royal Mail were indirectly condoning the use of for Official Mail Delivery.

Royal Mail managers are well aware of the "inherent dangers" of workers using private cars to carry out deliveries without adequate checks or Driving Licences, Motor Insurance, MOT and Road Tax, especially when taking on Agency Workers. 

Last March in a Guardian Newspaper article Royal Mail insisted that it has authorised just 10,000 private cars for use on deliveries nationwide and that it has a "zero tolerance" approach to anyone failing to comply with rules. Our view is that uncontrolled use and Managers "turning a blind-eye" makes the real number two or possibly three times that number of postal workers using their cars to transport mail. At the same time, in the same article, Royal Mail also insisted that the security of mail and the health and safety of employees and the public are of paramount importance to them! This recent incident proves that statement not to be the case. We hope and trust that this is an isolated incident but it must be said that the implications of this case is so great that concerted action needs to be taken on the control of both Agency worker deployment and is yet another good reason why private car use on deliveries needs initially to be strictly controlled and eventually completely banned.