A POSTBAG full of undelivered letters has been found dumped in a Hampshire road, as concerns mount over the Royal Mail crisis.

The mail, destined for more than ten homes, was found by a resident who took it into her home while she waited for post bosses to come and collect it. More than 24 hours later she was forced to take it back to a sorting office herself when nobody turned up.

The bag packed with letters was found by Claire Fisher at the weekend in Mousehole Lane, Bitterne, at the corner of Leybourne Avenue.

Royal Mail bosses have now launched an investigation into how the bag became discarded.

The discovery comes as deliveries across Hampshire are crippled by the biggest ever change to the Royal Mail. To save money, bosses have decided to scrap the second delivery and send the first round out later.

Scores of posties have contacted the Daily Echo to tell of nightmarish working conditions - longer rounds, more homes to visit and increasing numbers of untrained agency staff being drafted in.

The dumped postbag was discovered by mum-of-three Claire Fisher, who lives in Leybourne Avenue.

"I phoned the post office but they said to leave it where it was," she said. "I was worried about people stealing the mail so I brought it indoors. Royal Mail still hadn't been to collect it by the next day, so I dropped it back myself.

"I know some of the people who live in the homes where the post was due to go. It's terrible to think of their mail just sitting in the street - it could have been nicked."

Claire, 31, added that she feared her youngest son Sam, who is three years old next week, might not receive his birthday cards because of the crisis.

"It would be awful if he woke up on his birthday and there was no post," she said.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "We thank the lady for recovering the mail on our behalf and thank her for returning it to us.

"We will investigate what happened and how this post has come to be there. We will make sure it's put back in the system as soon as possible."