# Royal Mail post Boxes and Bonfire night



## Donald (Oct 7, 2010)

Ok Peeps  Just got this E-mail from Royal Mail about protecting post boxes from fireworks.



Dear Customer,
Bonfire Night is nearly upon us and fireworks will shortly be going on sale at various outlets throughout the country.  Unfortunately fireworks are sometimes used irresponsibly and can pose a risk to the safety of mail in our post boxes.
To help us better protect mail, as a temporary measure, we will be fitting special plates - called restrictor plates - over the openings of selected 'at risk' post boxes.  The restrictor plate narrows the mailing slot on the post box preventing fireworks from being posted into the box and damaging mail.
Boxes fitted with a restrictor plate can still be used to post items such as cards and letters but for bulkier items of mail you may need to take your item to your local Post Office branch.  Affected post boxes will also carry a customer notice letting you know where to find the nearest alternative posting facility for larger items.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you and would like to reassure you that restrictor plates will be removed as quickly as it is safe to do so after Bonfire Night.
Regards,


Royal Mail Customer Services


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## novorapidboi26 (Oct 7, 2010)

Never heard of this being done, wonder if I will see any this year........


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## Donald (Oct 7, 2010)

novorapidboi26 said:


> Never heard of this being done, wonder if I will see any this year........




It will be one heck of a job if they do all post boxes as there loads of them. But it makes sense if you post a bill with payment and some person thinks it would be good fun to lob in a lit firework and burn the mail inside.


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## novorapidboi26 (Oct 7, 2010)

Donald said:


> It will be one heck of a job if they do all post boxes as there loads of them. But it makes sense if you post a bill with payment and some person thinks it would be good fun to lob in a lit firework and burn the mail inside.



Just problem areas by the looks of it, they must have records of which ones get hit, pie charts and the like......


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## Donald (Oct 7, 2010)

There will always areas that causes problems shame really I'm  sure they will have all the Infomation at hand


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## Caroline (Oct 8, 2010)

It is a shame the few irresponsible idiots spoil the fun of all the good folks out there and make more work for others.

As a number of people have had fire works through the letter boxes in their front doors in my area, we always seal ours as a precaution. Nothing like that has ever been put through our door, but I don't want to take the chance.


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## Copepod (Oct 8, 2010)

Postboxes in Northern Ireland all had tiny slots when I lived there in 1997 - and sale of fireworks had only just become legal a couple of years earlier, which made for very interesting statistics in firework related attendences at A&E. At least, it was interesting to me as I was researching chemical incidents and human health, trying not to lose sight of the fact that each statistic was a person who got hurt. 

Postboxes at airports also have narrow slots, as I once found out to my cost when I wanted to post a penknife back home instead of having to surrender it as I was only taking handluggage.


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## FM001 (Oct 8, 2010)

The 'restrictor plates' are a new one on me Donald, I wonder if this is a new device which the Royal Mail are trialing?  That said, I can see that there may be problems at this time of year and any measure to protect our mail is always welcome.  Toby.


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## Donald (Oct 8, 2010)

Toby said:


> The 'restrictor plates' are a new one on me Donald, I wonder if this is a new device which the Royal Mail are trialing?  That said, I can see that there may be problems at this time of year and any measure to protect our mail is always welcome.  Toby.



No I don't think they are new devices it has been done before.I agree about protecting our mail it be a right carry on if important mail goes astray or accidentally destroyed by any means.


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