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Town is most dangerous place in the north of the county to be a postie
A postman makes his delivery.
The most dangerous place to be a postman in the north of the county is Kettering.
Dogs bit 19 posties in the NN16 postcode, which covers the town, during 2008, 2009 and 2010.
In Wellingborough’s NN8 postcode there were 11 dog bites, and one assault by a person.
There were 10 attacks on postmen and women in Rushden’s NN10 postcode – nine by animals and one by a person.
And the safest town to be a postman is Corby, where there were just six bites sustained by postal workers in the NN17 area.
The Royal Mail said it had introduced several measure in recent years to try to combat the problem, including writing to the owners of aggressive dogs to warn them about their animals.
The figures also showed that there were no injuries at all sustained in several postcodes including PE8 which covers Oundle, NN14, which covers towns to the west of Kettering, and in NN18 which covers rural parts of south Corby and north Kettering.
In the LE16 postcode, which covers Cottingham and surrounding villages, plus most of Market Harborough, there were 11 injuries.
Royal Mail also released details of the injuries suffered during the incidents.
Dogs were most keen to bite into the fingers on the right hand, with 10 incidents during the three-year period.
Five dogs preferred the left arm, left hand fingers, right shin and left hand. Three dogs bit left buttocks, but none chose to sink their teeth into a postman’s right buttock.
Bosses at the organisation said they had introduced a range of measures to try to minimise the risk to their employees.
A spokesman said: “The safety of staff is a main priority for the Royal Mail Group and we ensure advice is provided to staff regarding how to reduce the risk of attack.
“Royal Mail and the Communication Workers’ Union have pledged to work together to raise awareness of aggressive dogs.
“Delivery managers are urged to remind their teams of guidelines designed to minimise the risk of attack.
“Protective measures by the business include sending letters to owners of aggressive animals and warning staff where dangerous animals live.
“Our main aim is to prevent attacks. If we feel there is a risk from a dog or any other animal at an individual address we are committed to working with the customer to agree simple steps to ensure we can deliver the mail safely.
“Posting pegs were made available to our staff nationally in May.”
Posting pegs are a gadget, similar to a folding ruler, which allows the postman to put items through the letter box without exposing their hands or fingers to a dog inside the house.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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Comments
There are 17 comments to this article
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3Thr33s
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 08:55 PMAll the usual Corby haters are here again I see........Fastest growing town in the UK, soon to be the newest city in the UK (Hopefully).......read it and weep !
il Capitano
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 09:56 PMcorby - all bark and no bite? :D
Retarius
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 09:26 PMCorby dogs rule, Kettering dogs drool? .... and then bite you :-)
il Capitano
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 06:28 PMcorby is safe for posties? does that include the ones who had mail stolen from their cars after they were broken into? or the time one was shot with an air rifle? unfortunately with dogs, how good an area or its people are has no bearing a lot of the time. Many of the nicer houses with large grounds can possess the greatest risk as postmen have to venture into the dogs territory. i once had to go to a mansion near titchmarsh on business and almost got eaten by two rottweilers after entering the grounds. i quickly jumped over a hedge. ps: mickkaren probably lives in oakley vale. all towns have bad areas and good.
The Larkins
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 09:53 PMQuick call to a friend who works for RM in Corby tells me they deliver to 28,000 addresses, which includes a few villages.
pepsi
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 06:36 PMYes Aliss Kettering certainly has more dogs. They usually hang about the town center on a friday and saturday night
mickkaren1231
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 04:03 PMIn response to atilliator, absolutley right and well said, I was told before moving to Corby in 2007 'DONT GO THERE' it's full of idiots and it's a dump! I carried out numerous recces on Corby before buying here and couldnt see what people were getting at, my wife thought the same. We have been here over 5 years now and are very pleased we commited to buying here, enough said! Oh by the way those 4 individuals who said dont move to Corby were from Kettering and Wellingborough, none of them were from Corby or had actually lived here!
Mark Dragilocevic
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 03:20 PMIt's simple - operate a 'three strikes' system for dog biting. If a postman is bitten on at least three occasions at the same address, ensure that all dogs on the premises are either confiscated from the owners or destroyed.
John Downes
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 09:36 PMAliss said: "Corby might be the most safe simply because it's got fewer dogs per area, fewer deliveries per postcode or even more postboxes that aren't accessible to dogs." Oh, really, Aliss. That statement is elitism at it's worst. People in other towns think that the people of Corby are rough louts. Nothing could be further from the truth. I put it to you that posties are safer in Corby, because the dogs there are better trained, the people are considerate enough to keep their dogs under control; and the people of Corby treat their posties with care and the utmost courtesy. I think you would have to look at the social reasons why people in Kettering treat their posties as though they were their enemies. Employees of the Royal Mail are supposed to have Royal protection. I know a dog is supposed to be allowed one free bite; but I think this could be waived in the case of Royal Mail staff. If a postie is bitten, then the dog must be destroyed, and the owner be given a mandatory prison sentence, as well as having to pay ruinous sums of damages to the victim. People will keep their dogs under control then.
KEVJS
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 09:00 PM....Corby, where there were just six bites sustained by postal workers. JUST six? Makes it sound as if it's ok as there were just six. Six too many!
LivingInKettering
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 08:03 PMMmm maybe they should only train postmen that only have RIGHT buttocks, It looks like that might help. Or are they hiding something more sinister in those right buttocks that we should know about? :D Totally agree with the other statements or maybe there's just more gardens in NN16 with roaming packs of rabid dogs. Postman being bitten on the leg by a dog. Posh old lady shouts: 'To stop him biting, kick his balls' Postman aims a well aimed kick between the dogs legs, the dogs yelps and runs off in agony! Old lady : 'No!!!! The one's on the lawn!' A classic but well worth resurrecting :D
mickkaren1231
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 07:22 PMcleverzippy, maybe a 94mm (Light Anti Tank Weapon) Rocket Launcher would do the trick, there is weight issue here though and they are a pig to carry. It makes me laugh how people get upset over things like this, take it with a pinch of salt like you should do with pretty much most things that are printed in papers! Nice to see Corby come out on top though lol!
Ray Rodden
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 04:09 PMI know this is a very serious issue but excuse me for laughing at the section that said "3 dogs bit left buttocks ......" :-)
il Capitano
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 04:04 PM*county even!
il Capitano
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 04:02 PMcorrect aliss. NN16 covers the densely built central areas of kettering. Interestingly, NN15 (which covers the other half of kettering) wasn't mentioned - is that because its contains most of the nicer residential areas of kettering and thus would have voided the 'most dangerous town in the country for postmen' headline?
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