Cumbernauld woman shocked to receive mail from dead friend

A CUMBERNAULD woman was left distraught when her daughter received a birthday card from a family friend, who died four years ago.

Eleanor Scott, from Carrickstone, had an unpleasant surprise when she picked up an envelope, addressed to her 15-year-old daughter Emma.

The envelope, which was already opened and contained a birthday card to Emma, had been placed in a plastic bag, with a letter from Royal Mail.

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Eleanor then realised that the card had in fact been posted in May, 2007, by a friend who had tragically passed away later that year.

Eleanor said: “When I picked up the envelope I was distressed. I instantly recognised the writing and began to question what was going on, never thinking for a minute about what it could be.

“I saw that it was dated 2007, four years ago, then I read the card and realised it was from a very close family friend who passed away later the same year the birthday card was sent. It was even more upsetting because we received it only a few days after Emma’s actual birthday this year. She was quite upset by it.

“The woman was a very close friend and had been for a long time. If she was alive we could have a laugh about this, but that’s not the case.”

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The card came with a letter from the Royal Mail apologising for the delay after it was allegedly withheld from delivery by an employee in the Cumbernauld area.

Eleanor added: “For all I know I could have walked past the person that has done this. It’s horrible.”

The News can exclusively reveal that we received our own delayed mail during the process of our investigation into this story.

The delayed correspondence was a competition entry posted on March 21, 2004.

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This is not the first time mail delivery has been an issue in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth. In March a rogue postie dumped bags of mail behind houses in Kirklands Crescent, Kilsyth. This was followed by the Royal Mail confirming in April that a worker in Cumbernauld had been suspended in connection with an investigation into undelivered mail.

Now this third incident comes on the back of more reports of delayed mail in the area.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “Royal Mail can confirm that there is currently an ongoing investigation into the intentional delay of mail by an ex-employee formerly based at Cumbernauld Delivery Office. The delayed and tampered mail is being delivered to customers with a covering letter explaining the delay and telling them who to contact should they require further information. We apologise to any customer whose mail has been affected by this incident.

“Royal Mail has a zero tolerance approach to any dishonesty and that stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who are honest and hardworking and who do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely. It is a criminal offence to tamper with or delay the delivery of mail and anyone caught doing so will face serious disciplinary measures and Royal Mail will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust.

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“The safety and security of mail is of the utmost importance to this business and Royal Mail will not allow the actions of any individual to damage the good reputation of our thousands of hard-working postmen and women.”

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