Foxes and RATS spotted chewing up parcels at Royal Mail depot as strikes leave post piling up before Christmas
THOUSANDS of undelivered Christmas parcels have piled up amid the postal workers' strike - leaving abandoned festive gifts to be chewed up by RATS.
Families are facing a Christmas without presents as the postal walkout has caused depots to become overwhelmed with stranded deliveries.
The latest 48-hour strike by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents 115,000 postal workers, started today.
And further strike action is planned to hit just before Christmas Day, going ahead on December 23 and 24.
The huge backlog of deliveries has caused thousands of parcels to pile up across the nation - leading one squalid depot in Bristol to become overrun with vermin.
Undelivered Christmas gifts remain exposed to the elements amid the recent winter weather bomb, as foxes and rats are free to chew through the mess.
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Shocking pictures of the Royal Mail's main Bristol depot in Filton show the effect strike chaos is having on the Christmas deliveries.
One CWU member told : "The packages have now attracted rats and other animals, including a fox."
Another local CWU official said: “Things are being left out in the open at Bristol Mail Centre and I believe it’s the case that vermin and other animals are having a go.”
And the situation at the depot appears to be out-of-control, as one unnamed worker laughed off plans to cover the deliveries from the elements.
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"It would have to be the biggest tarpaulin in the world as everything has been ruined", they said.
The Royal Mail claimed the stunning pictures of the backlog show the 30,000 deliveries that travel through the depot every hour.
The delivery service added that they were moving “very quickly through the centre and on to the next stage in their journey”.
It reportedly did not respond to claims that rats and foxes, along with rain and snow, were damaging the Christmas deliveries.
But a CWU spokesman rejected the Royal Mail’s insistence the pictures do not show a festive delivery crisis.
He said: “This backlog will take at least a month to clear. When Royal Mail says ‘everything is OK’, it’s absolutely not true.
"The work’s coming in, they’re on-loading it but there’s nowhere to put it.
“If you post a first-class letter or parcel today, hand on heart, I do not know if it will get there before Christmas Eve, that’s the truth but it’s not what people are being told.”
The delivery service set its earliest ever recommended postage date for second-class deliveries, as Brits had until Monday to send off their Christmas cards.
Those that missed it have been warned their festive gifts may not be delivered until FEBRUARY.
In a statement, Royal Mail slammed the CWU strike action for "holding Christmas to ransom".
The delivery service said: “We are doing all we can to deliver Christmas for our customers and minimise the impact of damaging industrial action.
"The CWU is striking at our busiest time, holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families across the country.
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"We have well-developed contingency plans in place to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.
"However, we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our front-line workforce on days the CWU are taking strike action.”
