News
downsmail.co.uk Public delivers its viewof service
ROYALMail has come under fire for keeping customers waiting in the cold for more than an hour to collect their undelivered parcels in Snodland. In spite ofmore people shopping
online, the post collection centre in Sortmill Road shuts at 1pm each day and all day on Sunday. And in the recent freezing tem-
peratures, patience ran out for those forced to queue for 90 min- utes for their parcels and post. One customer, who waited an
hour, said he was frustrated Royal Mail took parcels back to its sorting officewhile other companies found a safe place to leave them. He wrote on Twitter: “I do not appreciate queuing in the freezing
cold for an hour to collect a parcel. I work. If it can’t be redelivered, surely there is a better system. I feel sorry for the
staff.Nothing seems to change...”. Carrie Rockey wrote: “Just
waited an hour to collect a parcel. Snodland sorting office needs to sort it out.” And the pair were not alone in
their criticism of Royal Mail. The wife of Tonbridge & Malling bor- ough councillor David Lettington was caught up in the same queue onMarch 10, and added: “There are never enough staffworking there.” Micheal Peat took our photo-
graph, right, and described the sit- uation as “awful”,which prompted Royal Mail to apologise, adding:
“Saturday mornings tend to be a peak time. We asked for an expla- nation and was told a larger than normal volume of undelivered items had caused problems on March 10 and opening hours were extended until all customers were served. It added: “Royal Mail can leave
A CHARITY that gives people with learning and other disabilities the chance to work has won a prize at the Taste of Kent Awards. Offham-based Spadework was handed the
special award for its community work. The site, which has a garden centre, farm
shop and cafe, welcomed 97 trainees through its doors last year, and decided to enter the scheme for a Kent Countryside Community Award.
items with a neighbour, except for special delivery items that require a
signature.Alternatively, customers can arrange a redelivery on a day convenient for them...orwe can de- liver the itemto a different address in the same postcode by calling the number on the card we leave or by visiting ourwebsite. “We do not have any further
comment to add to this.” But Karen Sowten, chief execu-
tive at Snodland Town Council, said Royal Mail might like to con- sider extending collection times be- yond 1pmto assist customers. She said: “To open late one
evening for thosewhoworkwould help Snodland residents and re- duce the load on staff.”
Charity tastes success with ‘unique’ award for efforts But, as general manager Kris Healey ex-
plained, the judges felt their efforts deserved a special award. “We were one of 10 finalists, and the other
nine were all fromthe private sector,” he said. “The teamof five judges came along and they were so impressed. As it was difficult to com- pare us to the other finalists, they gave us our own special award, the Unique Community Award.”
THE WINDMILL BURHAM
Lunch (Mon to Sat) 12:30pm to 3pm Dinner (Mon to Sat) 6pm to 9:30pm Sunday Roasts 1pm to 6:00pm Only £8.95
20% Discount
Also available for, Christenings, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Wakes Hot, Cold or Indian Buffets available
The Windmill | 292 Rochester Road| Burham | Kent | ME1 3RJ Call: 01634 864570 - Text: 07565 598854
windmillburham
.co.uk 20 Malling March 2018
facebook.com/rubyswindmill
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