ROYAL Mail has apologised to Harpenden residents after sealing a postbox in the town centre, forcing them to search for an alternative one for about a fortnight.

Harpenden town councillor John Chambers criticised the Royal Mail after discovering the postbox at the delivery office in Station Road had been closed to mail.

He said the postbox had been blocked with plyboard and added: “They are supposed to provide an alternative postbox.”

With the box being sealed, people had to walk elsewhere to post mail for a fortnight.

Royal Mail spokesperson Valerie Antoine said: “Royal Mail apologises to customers for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of the postbox outside Harpenden delivery office.”

She said customers could have either visited local post offices to drop off mail or used the closest alternative on the High Street.

Since Cllr Chamber’s complaint, a new postbox has recently been resited a short distance from its previous location on Station Road.