Postwoman sues Royal Mail for £50,000 over dog bite

ROYAL MAIL is being sued by a postwoman for £50,000 after a dog bit her fingers during her rounds.

Clare Offord, 41, claims she had not been warned about the animal when she took on a colleague’s route in Romford, east London, in 2016.

She had put her hand through the letter box to deliver a “missed parcel” card when she felt the bite. She was taken to hospital but, despite surgery, has been left without large parts of the ring and middle fingers on her left hand. Royal Mail denies liability for her injuries and disputes the £50,000 damages she is claiming in the case at Central London County Court.

“The claimant has lost the larger part of two fingers on her left hand,” her

‘The claimant lost the larger part of two fingers on her left hand. Her fingers are not going to grow back’

barrister, Ben Rodgers, told the court in a pre-trial hearing. “Her fingers are not going to grow back.”

Mrs Offord’s legal team say she had been told never to leave an item hanging out of a letter box, due to the risk of theft. But she had not been given a posting peg, a plastic device used to deliver mail without staff having to put their fingers through a letter box. The presence of the dog was also not noted on the “walk log”, it is claimed.

The case was in court for a short preliminary hearing. Mr Rodgers told Judge Caroline Wilkinson that the owner of the dog was convicted of a Dangerous Dogs Act offence.

Royal Mail claims 47 postal workers are attacked by dogs every week.

A spokesman said: ‘We welcomed the prosecution and conviction against the person in charge of the dog at the time of the attack.”