by Ed Targett

etargett@thekmgroup.co.uk

Postal workers have warned of "traffic chaos" in Canterbury after a Royal Mail reshuffle forced extra staff and customers into the city.

More than 50 postmen and women have moved to the sorting office in Military Road from a depot in Herne Bay which closed on Monday.

More are set to follow when the Whitstable office closes in January – meaning hundreds more journeys in and out of the city as they pick up their delivery bags.

Customers in the coastal towns will also have to travel to Canterbury to collect undelivered mail, sparking fears of a parking nightmare in the streets surrounding Military Road, where parking is already limited.

Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones, whose portfolio includes transport, said he was "furious" at the changes.

He said: "We tried to talk to Royal Mail and they just weren’t interested.

"We’re trying to reduce traffic, but by their estimates we are looking at an extra 500 vehicles per day – and let me tell you our calculations are double that."

Ann Bradley, who heads the Northgate Ward Community Centre, added: "We have real trouble with parking here as it is, and this is only going to make it worse.

"The sorting staff start pretty early, so I imagine the places are going to be gone before residents or visitors to our centres can get them."

Driver Alan Perkins, 67, who drops off service users at the centre, said: "To sum it up in one word – horrific. The system in place only allows us to park for four hours."

Postmen and women claim they have been told to park in supermarket car parks if they cannot find parking spaces.

One, who asked not to be named for fear of losing his job, said: "They told us to park in B&Q, Asda or Sainsbury’s.

"Now they’ve realised that’s palpably absurd so they are saying we can take the vans home with us. It doesn’t seem like it’s been thought through at all."

Royal Mail spokesman Sally Hopkins said: "A number of our staff living within the Canterbury area will be able to drive their delivery vehicles home and park them overnight and we are currently in discussions, working through the detail of this regarding numbers.

"This process will in turn free up a number of parking spaces for our staff.

"We have never advised our staff to park in nearby supermarket car parks."