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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Alahna Kindred

Delivery driver caught on CCTV hurling package onto anti-bird spikes 12ft in air

This is the shocking moment a Yodel driver throws a parcel 12-feet in the air, leaving it stuck on top of anti-bird spikes.

Customer Suzi Ashworth, 42, had to get a neighbour to use a broom to retrieve her parcel from outside an office building window on January 31.

The artist, from Folkestone, Kent, said she received a notification from Yodel saying her parcel was left in a "safe place on her porch".

Suzi was left baffled because she doesn't have a porch.

She went around the street asking local businesses, who then discovered the item had been thrown above an art studio.

CCTV shows the courier standing in the middle of the road and looking up at a window with the package in hand.

He then wanders closer to the door before launching the item into the air towards an office window.

CCTV shows how the delivery driver did not attempt to knock on the door or speak to someone.

The parcel lands directly onto the anti-bird spikes, impaling the display item inside.

The courier then nonchalantly snaps a picture on his phone to show proof of the delivery before wandering away.

A second clip later that day shows Suzi trying to retrieve the item on a ladder but unable to reach it with a broom handle.

Two men then step in to hold the base of a step ladder whilst a third man finally manages to retrieve the parcel from the metal spikes.

Suzi complained to Yodel who said they had taken "drastic measures" with the courier involved.

Suzi said: "Maybe he deserved some measure, retraining, or a telling off.

"But I think the real problem with Yodel is not one individual employee but a culture of unrealistic delivery schedule demands on employees combined with the distrustful approach towards their staff in the form of GPS tracking exact employee movements.

"Plus their deliberately difficult customer contact system.

"We borrowed a ladder and had some difficulty getting it down as the office window it landed near was unable to open for some reason.

"It was completely wrecked as it was a polystyrene display item and was impaled by the pigeon spikes, dented by the throw and then tapped with a broom handle until we could free it."

Suzi said that during a phone call on Friday morning, Yodel claimed to have "removed the courier from the company".

She said: "Yodel phoned this morning and very proudly told me they had 'removed' the courier from the company.

"I'm actually starting to feel sorry for this guy as the more I deal with yodel the more apparent it is that they must be very unpleasant to work for.

"I think the whole culture of the company is a bit extreme. The guy made a stupid judgement call, we've all done it."

A Yodel spokesperson said: "We take driver behaviour very seriously and this incident clearly does not meet our standards.

"We have taken appropriate action with the driver following an investigation and are in touch with the customer to apologise."

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