Royal Mail investigates after hundreds of letters, including medical post, found dumped on a country road

Updated 6 Nov 2026, 10:40 · First published 6 Nov 2026

Royal Mail has launched an investigation after hundreds of undelivered letters were found dumped in a bag on a country road in Co Londonderry. Some of the post included personal and medical letters.

How were the letters found?

A member of the public out walking came across a bag full of post and took it to the constituency office of local SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan. He said he was “horrified” to discover it was full of recently posted mail that had never reached the people it was meant for.

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What has Royal Mail said?

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident involving mail being discarded at Mobuoy and are currently investigating.” The company says its teams will recover and process the letters so they can still reach their intended recipients.

“From late post to no post”

Mr Durkan says constituents have complained about postal delays for a long time, with late letters causing missed hospital appointments, problems for businesses and missed information about children’s schooling. He says the problem has now gone “from late post to no post at all”, and has called for “a frank apology and accountability” and a full investigation, adding that Royal Mail has “serious questions to answer”.

What to do if you think your post is missing

If you are waiting for something important, such as a hospital letter, contact the sender directly to check it was sent and ask for a copy. You can report missing post to Royal Mail online, and if you believe mail has been stolen or interfered with, you can also report it to the police.

Sources: UTV/ITV News, Derry Now, Royal Mail.