Royal Mail postal workers have criticised homeowners who install letterboxes at floor level, saying the design makes their daily rounds harder. An anonymous postal worker took to the r/RoyalMail Reddit community to vent about homeowners who replace their front doors but choose a design with a low letterbox.
Posties sympathise in hundreds of comments
Fellow posties were among those who sympathised in hundreds of comments. The design adds another challenge to a physically demanding job. According to Royal Mail's careers page, postal workers must be fit enough to walk up to 12 miles a day in all weather conditions while carrying heavy bags.
The frustrated postie shared a photograph of a front door on their route, with a note attached to a previously used wall-mounted post box. It directed them to use the new letterbox in the door instead. The note read: "Please can you use the new post box located in the door." The postie said: "Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! WHY! A special place in hell is waiting for them."
Fellow workers react
The post attracted hundreds of comments, many from fellow postal workers who were quick to sympathise with their colleague. One person said: "You wouldn't put a key hole down there. You wouldn't put the handle down there. So.."
A second added: "Mark inaccessible. Stupid bloody design which contributes nothing. But form over function I guess. I'm not even a postie but every time I see it, it infuriates me when people make life harder for people doing their job."
A third said: "Sod that! Why are people so inconsiderate, besides, what is wrong with continuing to use the wall mounted post box. Some people!"
A fourth added: "It's European law for letterboxes to be 1m from the ground, not in the UK. About 10 years ago someone created a petition to get the law changed, unfortunately it didn't get the minimum 100,000 signatures to get read in parliament."
A fifth said: "Thank you for posting this. Many people here saying that it's inconsiderate and personally I wouldn't have even thought. I can now confirm when I get a new door it definitely won't be one with a postbox at the bottom!"
Can Royal Mail refuse to deliver your post?
Yes. Royal Mail is regulated by Ofcom, which permits postal workers to decline deliveries to householders in four specific circumstances, including health and safety, difficulty of access, absence of users or anticipatory health and safety closure. Several of these points relate to matters such as unrestrained or aggressive dogs, verbal abuse, overgrown gardens or the inability to safely reach a property or letterbox.
While low-positioned letterboxes in the UK are not presently illegal, they represent a significant concern for postal workers and have been the focus of ongoing political and union campaigns. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) initiated low-level letterbox campaigns calling for safer installation heights. The European Standard EN 13724 recommends a minimum height of 70 cm (approximately 2 feet 3.5 inches) for mailboxes, although this is not universally enforced for existing doors.
