Stamp of approval for trolley service

No more will you catch a glimpse of a strained manly thigh as the postie battles his way up Park Hill on a bike laden with mail, or see the well-turned ankle of a postwoman pedalling frantically down Castle Hill.

Now it’s at a safer pace with two feet firmly on the ground and a lot more comfortable for the posties’ backs.

The new trolleys can hold 55kg of post, as opposed to 32kg on a bike and be able to cope better with the increase in bulky items being ordered online.

Kenilworth is the first delivery office in the country to take part in the change and will be followed shortly by Rugby, Warwick and Stratford.

Mail will be sorted at the delivery office and then posties will be taken to their rounds in a van.

Geoff Hilton, of Rouncil Lane, said: “We came to Kenilworth 13 years ago and it was quite a feature of the Kenilworth scene seeing the posties on their bikes – it’s the end of an era.”

And the secretary of the Kenilworth History and Archaeology Society added: “We always knew when the warm weather was on the way when saw the posties in their shorts on their bikes.”

Ditching the bikes is part of Royal Mail modernisation programme being implemented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the organisation following last year’s industrial dispute.

Dave Hatton, the union’s area delivery representative
for Coventry and Warwick-shire, said: “I think it will be popular with the posties.

“There’s a tremendous strain on their backs with the bikes and there are lots of cycle accidents every year.”

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We are making a number of changes in delivery methods as part of a £2 billion modernisation of the entire operation.

“As we deliver fewer letters but more packets and parcels, we can eliminate the need to send out older, more polluting vans to replenish postmen and women by sending out all the mail in one go.

“All the improvements will help us in our aim of achieving a 34 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2015.”