A Royal Mail postal worker has complained about homeowners who install letterboxes at floor level, saying there is a “special place in hell” for them. The anonymous employee took to Reddit’s r/RoyalMail community to vent about the design, which makes an already demanding job harder.
Postie shares photo of low-level letterbox
The postie shared a photograph of a property where a new front door had a low-level letterbox. A note attached to the wall-mounted post box directed them to use the one 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 postal workers agree
The post attracted hundreds of comments, many from fellow postal workers who agreed with the employee. One individual commented: “You wouldn't put a key hole down there. You wouldn't put the handle down there. So..”
Another remarked: “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 person stated: “Sod that! Why are people so inconsiderate, besides, what is wrong with continuing to use the wall mounted post box. Some people!”
Someone else noted: “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.”
Another contributor 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?
Royal Mail is regulated by Ofcom, which allows posties not to deliver to homeowners in four exceptional circumstances, including health and safety, difficulty of access, absence of users or anticipatory health and safety closure. Some of these points cover issues such as uncontained or aggressive dogs, verbal abuse, overgrown gardens or inability to safely access a property or letterbox.
Although low-positioned letterboxes in the UK are not currently illegal, they are a major concern for postal workers and have been the target of active political and union campaigns. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) launched low-level letterbox campaigns advocating for safer installation heights. The European Standard EN 13724 recommends a minimum height of 70 cm (about 2 feet 3.5 inches) for mailboxes, though this is not universally enforced for existing doors.
