A century-old Cardiff post box has been boarded up due to fears it poses ‘a Health & Safety risk’.

After 120 years of service, the Royal Mail say the box is no longer safe for staff to collect letters from as it has been ‘swallowed’ by a neighbouring tree.

The Royal Mail say the pavement has been lifted by overgrown roots, which means the post box’s door cannot be opened safely.

A sign on the box which dates back to 1891 and bears Queen Victoria’s initials reads ‘Regrettably Royal Mail has had to remove this posting box from service as, due to the growth of the tree and the raised pavement, it is no longer safe to collect mail from’.

Officials said although the box had been decommissioned, it would remain where it was because it was a Grade II listed structure.

Treechery

Angry residents though have branded the move ‘Health & Safety madness’.

They point out that the well-used postal box survived two World Wars but has now been decommissioned because postal workers were worried about ‘stepping over a root or two’.

Meg Bryant said ‘Surely it can’t be too much of a risk to step over the tree roots. It is a lot less dangerous that a barking dog coming at a letterbox’.

David Leyshon commented ‘It is a shame it is now blocked up. The Royal Mail should make a feature of it rather than consign it to the rubbish bin of Health & Safety madness’.

However, local councillor Sue Lent defended the decision saying ‘The post box has always been there but the tree wasn’t always so far around it’.

The tree which was planted as a sapling more than a century ago is now more than 120ft tall.