Postal workers suffered more than 1,600 dog attacks last year with several occurring in Portsmouth, according to Royal Mail

Some employees were left with permanent and disabling injuries.

Royal Mail report 1,673 dog assaults were recorded, an average of 32 every week across the UK.

A total of 34 were recorded in the PO (Portsmouth) postcode area

Sheffield had the most incidents reported during the year to March 31, 2022, with 51 posties suffering pet altercations, closely followed by Belfast, with 50, and Tunbridge Wells with 44.

The BN (Brighton), NG (Nottingham), and SA (Swansea) postcode areas each saw 37 dog attacks on Royal Mail’s delivery staff, while the NE (Newcastle) and OX (Oxford) postcode areas saw 35 each, and the EX (Exeter) postcode had 32 incidents.

As in previous years, the majority of dog attacks, 654 – 39 per cent – took place at the front door.

A further 498, 30 per cent, dog attacks took place in the garden, driveway or yard, while 134, 8 per cent, took place in the street or road.

There were also 387 injuries suffered through letterboxes – accounting for 23 per cent of attacks on postal workers.

Some attacks can have a devastating impact on careers.

Julie Mundy, based in Nantwich, Cheshire spent five days in hospital, was off work for three months, and suffered from post-traumatic stress after her ordeal in 2019.

The postwoman, of 19 years, said a customer tried to hold the dog back but it got away and dove at her, causing her to stumble backwards and fall on the ground, breaking her hip.

She said: ‘By then the dog was on top of me but I couldn’t move – but I didn’t realise at that point I had broken my hip. The customer came and dragged the dog off me and another neighbour from across the road came over to help.

‘My arm was bleeding where the dog had bitten me because I had been trying to cover my face. The neighbour from across the road cleaned me up and bandaged my arm and called an ambulance. I had to remain on the floor in the garden as I couldn’t walk.’

Ms Mundy added that she has suffered post-traumatic stress since, often freezing when she hears a dog barking.

Letterbox attacks were the subject of a 2020 High Court ruling that stated dog owners can be prosecuted if their pets have free access to the letterbox and cause injury, whether the owner is at home or not.

The total number of attacks dropped 1 per cent from the period between 2020 and 2021.

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It is the second year running Royal Mail has reported a reduction in dog attacks on its staff.

Contact-free deliveries during the pandemic lead to a 31 per cent decline between 2020 and 2021.

Postal workers reverted back to pre-pandemic delivery methods after the data had been collected for between 2021 and 2022.

Dave Joyce, National Health & Safety Officer, Communication Workers’ Union, said: ‘Dog attacks remain a major safety hazard and concern for postmen and women across the UK and the scale of the problem shouldn’t be underestimated.’