Can anyone open a Post Box and empty it? Not sure if I just witnessed a crime...

[somethingnewandexciting]

Getting into the car an hour or so ago to do a dog walk and see a man by the post box with a big black people carrier van. He was wearing black joggers and a white beany hat, trainers. He looked like he was trying to hide, or as if I startled him a little by coming to the car. I then notice he has a little blue zipped bag, like a laptop sized neoprene or something and he is sorting through post and putting things into it, then he got keys out on a long lanyard, closed the post box door and drove off in the black van. Is this something off duty postmen not in their work vans can just do? It felt off but I am not sure who to tell or if it is just someone doing their job? I got a bad picture of the side of the van as it pulled off, so no number plate. Do I just leave it? I feel people might have posted ££ for Christmas and this guy is going around potentially finding things that look worth something and taking them?

Report it to your post office, the sorting office name should be on the postbox.

I think it is a crime to steal someone's post but that's generally unenforceable on a personal level. I have definitely noticed some postpeople in my area delivering Royal Mail letters while wearing trackies/not in uniform so I assume new recruits can do it before they get a uniform. It does sound suspicious, but I would assume a thief wouldn't do it in daylight and with keys on a lanyard? Plus, are people putting cash in cards in November? Surely it would be more lucrative to steal Amazon parcels from doorsteps in a balaclava than steal letters from a post box for the sake of £20

Could be agency worker.

I would report it

It might be legit, but the combination of no uniform and no branded van? I'd report it.

Bear in mind it's coming up to Xmas. Post Office have loads of temps in at the mo!

It is a crime to interfere with the Royal Mail, so I'd report it to the police.

This is it, I don't want to be getting someone in trouble, but also surely this is why they have vans and uniforms, so we know they are legit?

So, do I tell the sorting office or police? I don't even know how they would go about finding out what he took - you'd be relying on anyone who posted something to report it not arriving and tracing it back to that post box...which of course might be why they did it, as it would be hard to track.

Why do you need to know how they’d deal with it? Just ring the sorting office and tell them what you’ve seen. They’ll probably confirm it us a Christmas temp worker

In my youth it was common for students to work as posties coming up to Christmas, we didn't have uniforms, but I never got near to opening a post box just delivered mail. It does sound a bit odd if he didn't just empty the box and take it back for sorting at the office.

Usually on a postbox they have the collection times on it. Does the collection time match up with the time you saw the man emptying the box?

Ages ago a postman told me there can a big discrepancy with the times that post is collected and not to take it as read that it will all be collected by the time stated.

The blue folder is where posties keep their box keys and other items. As a former RM manager it is likely a Christmas casual /agency worker in a hire van.

Round this way all our postboxes have is when the last collection of the day will be (and if and where there are any later collections in the vicinity)

Sometimes they'll do other collections during the day but they're not timed.

Yes I just walked down to it and it has last collection time on it only.
Thank you @IHateYourFace I keep thinking about the pouch and how he had it all there, so I think I will hold fire. I am still unsure if I would need to call the sorting office or police, but I will sleep on it and maybe call the sorting office in the morning and see what they say.

Are you desperate to call the police or something? All this pondering and sleeping on it is ridiculous. Either forget about it or call the sorting office. Nobody else can tell you if it were a genuine collection or not. How the fuck would the police know? 🤣

Blimey, bet you're handy to have around in an emergency!

It's a road with a lot of old people on it so I do feel quite responsible for scammers!

I'm not desperate to call the police at all btw I just wasn't sure if it was them or the Royal Mail who would be interested, which is why I started the thread. I guess some people would just think "not my problem" and ignore it, I'm clearly not one of those people!

But on the plus side, maybe she’s not a dick to people on the internet.

Just ring the sorting office they will take details and respond.

That won’t prove anything- all the postboxes within at least half a mile of us us have 9am as the time they are emptied, but actually they are emptied any time in the morning- and sometimes not until the afternoon.

Collection times have very little to do with when the box is opened.

We have additional hire vehicles and agency workers for Xmas . This is unlikely to be anything untoward , you could contact your local delivery office as they could provide a Royal Mail hi-viz to the agency for visibility.

Maybe like you, she is!

Just out of curiosity, does each postbox have an individual key or is there a master key that can open all the postboxes in an area (or maybe even the country)?

Quite the opposite, I think you should have called immediately. You seem to think waiting a day is rash thinking!