UK delivery service Royal Mail failed to deliver parcels and Christmas cards to a Bishop's Cleeve estate in Gloucestershire after dubbing it too dangerous to enter.

Eight residents who moved into the estate last month found themselves unable to get their Christmas post delivered, reports the Gloucestershire Echo.

Royal Mail considered the area a health and safety risk because of ongoing building work, meaning some of the mail was redirected to the Cheltenham sorting office at a cost of £40.

Roger Hadrell, one of the new residents, said: "There are Christmas cards and presents for the kids that we are missing. I am also trying to resolve our utility bills from the previous property."

A spokesman from Bovis Homes, the company which built the estate, said the site had been rigorously checked for health and safety problems before people began to move in.

Royal Mail spokesman Valerie Antoine said deliveries had now started at the addresses.

The Romney Marsh Herald recently pointed out that Royal Mail has been delivering parcels to the wrong addresses in the area after changing its postal system.

Author:  Gillian Walters