A BESIEGED postal service hit by coronavirus has been rescued in Ashburton thanks to a community effort to get a ‘massive backlog’ cleared.
A coronavirus response-effort, first seen in the early days of the pandemic has regrouped to get parcels moving.
The famous ‘Covid-cab’ – a former black cab originally purchased to take vulnerable patients to appointments during the lockdown, was dusted off to hit the road to help make deliveries.
After Newton Abbot sorting office was hit by coronavirus last week, postmaster and ‘community pillar’ Stuart Rogers (BEM) had the ingenious idea to create a temporary sorting office in the town.
Stuart requested all of the backlogged mail to be delivered to the town library, where parcels ‘filled the entire floor’.
A number of community figures worked tirelessly over the weekend including an emergency response group created during the lockdown.
Among the parcels were essential medicines as one vulnerable resident called to say their delayed delivery had prevented a visit to the hospital.
Postmaster Stuart said: ‘We can’t control the ‘pingdemic’ but we can work together as human beings to help each other.
He added: ‘People need their parcels for health, they need parcels to live their lives, this isn’t just new trainers being delayed.’
Stuart was full of praise for the efforts of volunteers and Cllr Sarah Parker-Khan, who in turn insisted that Stuart was a ‘community legend.’
Cllr Parker Khan was blown away by how much was done in a short amount of time.
‘This is what we [Ashburton] do’, said Cllr Parker-khan.
‘We didn’t have permission to cover other areas’ lost parcels – but look at what we’ve achieved,’ she added.
A thankful phone call was also received by the group to say their efforts had prevented a trip to the hospital.
Last week’s Mid-Devon Advertiser revealed the Royal Mail’s Newton Abbot delivery office had been hit by a coronavirus outbreak.
Around 10 staff were self-isolating at the Forde Road delivery office following two positive cases of COVID-19.
The company confirmed that they expect some disruption to normal service but that they hope to resume to normal levels as soon as possible.
Although there were rumours that many more people had been unable to work, the Royal Mail spokesman this week said the position was unchanged from last week.
‘The health and safety of our colleagues and our customers is our number one priority at Royal Mail. Around 10 colleagues are self-isolating at the Newton Abbot Delivery Office.’