AROUND half the post boxes in Palmers Green have been sealed up following the theft of some keys.

The Royal Mail has confirmed that 15 post boxes in the area are currently out of action and will reopen by mid-August.

The boxes have already been blocked for almost a week after a local postman reported his keys missing to the police.

A spokesman for the company said they had sealed the slots as a "security measure to protect customers' mail".

He added: “We cleared the mail from these post boxes and are having new locks installed, and we hope to have the post boxes back in service as soon as we can.

"We would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience this causes, and would ask them to use other nearby postboxes or their local post office to post items of mail while we rectify the situation.

"Around half the postboxes in the N13 area remain open.”

Ivonne Treaon, a pensioner from Belmont Avenue, Palmers Green, said: "This is extremely inconvenient for lots of people, especially the elderly, who can't walk for miles to another post box.

"I think they could get a team of people in to put the locks in manually. I don't know why it is taking them so long.

"People won't get their cards, bills won't get paid - it's very frustrating."

Post boxes affected:

- Bourne Hill/Cranley Road
- 55 Caversham Avenue
- Aldermans Hill/Derwent Avenue
- 78 Aldermans Hill
- 9 Aldermans Hill
- 263 Green Lanes
- Belmont Avenue/Broomfield Lane
- Hawthorne Avenue/Powys Lane
- 59 Palmerston Crescent
- 6 Clockhouse Parade
- 78 Upsdell Avenue
- Bershire Gardens/Wolves Lane
- 114 Tottenhall Road
- 1 Chequers Way
- Hoppers Road/Stonard Road