A disabled pensioner has hit out at repeated misdelivery of mail and being expected to redeliver post and parcels to her neighbours.

Mrs Margaret White, 77, who lives in a ground floor flat in Harpenden, has been plagued with mail for other people since Christmas and when she posted a large notice on her door asking the postman to knock, she said it was ripped off.

She has contacted Royal Mail several times and found them to be sympathetic on the first occasion but less so after that. On one occasion she was asked, ‘couldn’t you deliver it’?

Mrs White said: “I am disabled and elderly and not in a position to go and redeliver the mail. I told Royal Mail that I was not a post person and put the phone down.”

On one occasion she mistakenly opened a letter from St Albans council addressed to one of her neighbours and was mortified to learn from Citizen’s Advice that it was illegal to open someone else’s post. Concerned about the implications, she contacted St Albans council to let them know what had happened.

Royal Mail spokesperson Sally Hopkins said: “We apologise to Mrs White that she has not received the first class service from Royal Mail that we aim to deliver to all our customers.

“We are checking daily to ensure that we are delivering all mail correctly to Mrs White and other residents [in her flats]. We would advise anyone who has any queries about their mail deliveries to contact us on 03457 740 740 or www.royalmail.com so we can investigate.”