Mail for addresses in Oswestry was dumped in a garden – for other postal staff to collect. A resident said he could not believe it when he saw it happening.

Peter McGlinchey said he saw a postal worker yesterday leaving a sack behind a wall in the Gatacre area of the town and added the practice “beggared belief”.

Royal Mail today apologised and said it would not happen again.

Mr McGlinchey said he was walking close to his home in Gatacre Road when he saw a post office employee throw the sack over a wall and into a front garden.

“I could not believe my eyes,” he said. “I went over and questioned what was happening and was told it was common practice. I was told someone else would be along to pick up the sack very soon, but 45 minutes later it was still there.

“It beggars belief. We trust the Royal Mail to look after our letters and parcels and these can include important items and perhaps sensitive mail.”

Mr McGlinchey added lost mail had cost him more than £100 last year.

“Important documents from a solicitor in Glasgow went missing and I had to pay out more than £100 in travel costs and the cost of an overnight stay in Scotland to collect more documents.”

Jaquie Stenson, Royal Mail spokeswoman, said: “We would like to thank you for bringing this incident to our attention. It shouldn’t have happened and it won’t happen again.”

But Royal Mail declined to say whether an investigation would be launched.

Three years ago thieves stole hundreds of greetings cards and other post in Oswestry. Bundles of post were taken from mail pouches left for post staff to collect on their rounds.