A COLEFORD woman, who has been banned from Tesco Express in Coleford, is ‘furious’ after she discovered that a gift for her friend had been deliberately destroyed by a post office worker on Wednesday, August 9.

Maureen Price, who is 72 and disabled, had taken the parcel to the Post Office in Coleford on Monday.

She said: “It was a very small parcel and, when asked, I told the man at the counter it contained a bottle of perfume.

“He told me that I couldn’t post perfume and asked me how big it was. Well I didn’t know as it was all wrapped up and I told him so. He said if it was over 50ml it couldn’t be posted.

“I was so angry that I went home and unwrapped it all. I discovered the that the bottle was 50ml and is permissible, so the following day I took it back to him with some wrapping paper and sellotape and a padded envelope with my friend’s address on it. I said ‘there’s the perfume, you wrap it and put it in the post’. He said it wasn’t his job.

“I’d already written to Royal Mail’s head office to complain about him, but I went back up on Wednesday and he’d destroyed the perfume. He said he was told to by head office and that he’s banning me from Tesco in Coleford.

“Well that’s criminal damage so I went to the police. They told me he had no right to ban me and advised me to make a claim for compensation. I’m furious.”

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are urgently looking into the issue, and always strive to ensure high quality of customer service right across our network of over 11,500 branches. We also expect staff serving in branch to be treated with respect.

 “We are required to ask questions regarding the contents of parcels to

avoid potentially dangerous goods, which can include items such as batteries and perfume, being sent by post without the right packaging.

 “We are speaking to our branch and also trying to contact the customer to advise that they are welcome back into the store at any time.”