A KENTON woman branded her local postman "a disgrace" after she discovered a sack full of letters dumped in an alleyway next to her house.

The woman, who lives in Paulhan Road, slammed the slipshod service and called the Post Office demanding an improvement.

She said: "It was left behind a small brick wall in the alley between my house and a neighbour's. The bag was in full view of the street for everyone to see. It was very unsafe."

The post-bag was spotted at around 7am on Monday and left, unprotected until 1pm. The resident, who does not want to be named, believes her 15-year-old daughter may have had her cash-card stolen because of similar bungling ineptitude.

She said: "This could have been going on for months. My daughter was waiting for her first cash-card but it never arrived. We later found out that it had been used four times in a money scam, and that the thieves had run up a debt of £1,000.

"We sorted the problem, but after no end of aggravation and no thanks to the Post Office. To find out that they just dump bags where ever they feel like is a disgrace and not the kind of service we expect."

Postmen are allowed to leave their sacks in a safe and secure place after finishing a shift. However, a spokesman for the Post Office was alarmed when told how this particular drop point was being used.

He said: "There is a drop point on a private site at the side of the road. It had been agreed with local residents and used successfully for years.

"However, following this incident we have decided to stop using it and find an alternative."