ANGRY residents have hit out at Post Office bosses after their mail was delivered covered in mud and dog dirt.

In some cases letters were illegible and a health hazard and householders believe their post was dumped in an alleyway before being retrieved.

Last Tuesday residents in Greenway Road and Cooper Street in Widnes began to wonder what had happened to their 'normally punctual' deliveries.

After a morning without mail, one resident, who asked not to be named, inquired about its whereabouts after contacting neighbours who told him they had also not received their post.

He said he phoned the local sorting office and was told there had been a problem with the delivery which would be sorted out as soon as possible.

But by the time the residents received the mail, many letters were unreadable - and, in some cases, untouchable.

'I rang the Post Office to see the status of my mail and an official informed me that the postman had some personal problems and could not drop the mail off,' he added. 'When we did get it, it looked as though it had been dumped in a filthy entry.

'I was expecting an important letter from the bank and when that came it was lined with what looked liked dog faeces or dirt.'

Another resident who had her mail damaged said her letters were 'damp' and 'half-opened', while another said her envelopes were covered in mud.

She said: 'I just could not read it because all the ink had run.'

The allegations come at a time when Royal Mail faces fines of up to £50m because too many letters are being delivered late nationwide.

The resident who contacted the Royal Mail claims to have been told by an official that the postman went missing and had tossed the letters into an nearby alleyway, which resulted in them being defaced and blemished.

'After this incident last week you would have thought that the mail would be on time, but again my letters have been late and that's not good enough,' added the resident.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said she was unaware of any grievances.

'As far as we are concerned we have received no complaints,' she said.

However, the resident who inquired about the missing mail said: 'I definitely rang the Post Office to let them know about the problem and they apologised and promised to sort it out.

'Hopefully it won't happen again as you expect to receive letters in the condition they were posted in.'