HC Deb 05 March 1941 vol 369 c926W
Sir J. Mellor

asked the Postmaster-General what safeguards are adopted to secure that a reasonable price is obtained for the benefit of the owner, or, failing discovery of the owner, for the benefit of the Crown, when perishable articles contained in parcels, which cannot be delivered Or returned to the senders, are sold to members of the Post Office staff?

Mr. W. S. Morrison

The only office in London where there is any appreciable quantity of undeliverable perishable articles is the Returned Letter Section, where such sales are under the personal control of a responsible Supervising Officer, who decides when an article must be sold to avoid total loss, and fixes the selling price with due regard to current retail prices and the condition of the article. A detailed record of all such sales is maintained, and this record is examined at regular intervals by the officer in charge of the Returned Letter Section. At other Returned Letter Offices in the provinces a somewhat similar arrangement is in force.