Rats and foxes munching on Christmas parcels have piled up outside the Royal Mail depot, according to the union

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“The enclosures have now attracted mice and other animals, including a fox,” a union member at the site told The Telegraph.

Another local CWU official said: “Things are being left out in the open at Bristol Post, and I think it has to do with vermin and other animals.”

Plans to cover the items to protect them were met with skepticism by staff at the centre, with one worker, who asked not to be identified, saying it “must be the biggest tarpaulin in the world where everything has been destroyed”.

Royal Mail said the images showed some of the 30,000 parcels an hour being processed at the Filton depot, but that these were moving “very quickly through the center and on to the next stage in their journey”.

She did not respond to allegations that mice and foxes, along with rain and snow, damaged items left outside.

A CWU spokesperson rejected Royal Mail’s reassurances, saying: “It will take at least a month for this backlog of work to be resolved. When Royal Mail says ‘all is well’, it is not true at all. Work is coming, it is being uploaded but there is nowhere to put it.”

“If you post a first-class letter or parcel today, with your hand on your heart, I don’t know if it will arrive before Christmas Eve, that is the truth but it is not what people are told.”

Monday was the recommended mailing date for second-class mail, the oldest ever in the service’s history, but the union claimed some Christmas cards might not arrive until February due to a backlog exacerbated by strikes.

People hand out their own cards by hand

The warning comes amid estimates that up to a third of people will have their Christmas cards hand-delivered this year due to strikes.

The greeting card industry has found that the public is increasingly turning to their own methods of ensuring that cards reach their loved ones during the holiday season.

The Greeting Cards Association (GCA), which represents card manufacturers, retailers and distributors, found that at least 32 per cent of people were “changing habits” and hand-delivering cards rather than relying on Royal Mail this year, due to disruption caused by the industry strike.

Amanda Ferguson, chief executive of the Global Financial Alliance, said: “This dispute will damage confidence in the postal system. People are still very engaged and buying cards, even if they are concerned about the impact of strikes. But they are changing their habits, with more being offered now.”

The Royal Mail said in a statement: “We do everything we can to bring Christmas to our customers and minimize the impact of industrial strikes. The CWU is our busiest time, holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families across the country.

“We have well-developed contingency plans to reduce delays and keep people, businesses, and the country connected. However, we cannot fully replace the day-to-day efforts of our frontline workforce on days when the CWU goes on strike.”

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