Mail and parcels stolen from Australia Post found dumped on the northern beaches
A morning walk on the beach ended up with a woman finding dozens of parcels and mail stolen from Australia Post
Manly
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A bagful of stolen mail and parcels that was to be delivered by Australia Post has been found dumped on a Sydney beach.
The envelopes and contents of the parcels, along with an official yellow Australia Post bag, were discovered scattered across the sand and in bushes at Clontarf Beach early on Tuesday morning.
Resident Felecia Tappenden was walking about 7am when she spotted the dozens of envelopes and the remnants of parcel wrapping.
The mail and parcels had delivery addresses at Freshwater including properties in Waine, Wilson, Cavill and Rowe streets as well as Harbord Rd.
There was also at least one parcel bound for Ashburner St at Manly.
When Mrs Tappenden checked the dumped items, she found that many of the parcels had been ripped open and their contents thrown on the ground.
She also found that a number of envelopes had their contents removed.
Photos she took of the dumped items show personal family photos along with official bank statements and bundles of letters bound with elastic rubber bands.
Mrs Tappenden also found clothing including a “Harry Potter” sweatshirt.
“The parcel for Ashburner Street had a lot of newborn baby clothes sent from the UK,” Mrs Tappenden said.
“Some of the mail had dates stamps from January 5 and 7 and the parcels looked like they contained Christmas presents.”
Mrs Trappenden said she tried to match the contents with their parcel wrapping and had personally dropped off the parcel with the baby clothes to a home in Manly.
“It looked like someone had stolen the Australia Post bag and rifled through it and dumped it at the beach.”
She bundled up the rest of the material and handed it in at the post office at Freshwater.
“At the end of the day I just wanted to make sure everyone gets their mail and parcels.”
An Australia Post spokesman said it was aware of an incident involving mail in the Freshwater area.
“While such instances are infrequent, Australia Post is committed to ensuring and maintaining the security of mail in its care,” the spokesman said.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and delay used as a result of this unfortunate incident. We have reported the matter to the police and are working hard to get all items delivered to our customers as soon as possible.”
Customers with any concerns or enquiries can call Australia Post’s customer care consultants on 13 13 18.