DELIVERY of the Christmas post has been hampered in Chingford Mount.

Traffic wardens have brought collections to a near standstill by continually ticketing the Royal Mail van.

Collections have been reduced to one a day and letters have been overflowing from post boxes, creating a security risk.

MP Iain Duncan Smith has joined forces with Chingford Mount post office and an enraged local resident in an attempt to stop the council imposing the fines.

The dispute centres around a stretch of pavement outside the post office in Old Church Road. The delivery van has always parked there in order to collect mail.

Four months ago, traffic wardens suddenly began to fine the van up to four times a week.

With Royal Mail unwilling to continue paying, collections were reduced to one a day to avoid parking enforcement hours.

During the busy Christmas period this has caused post boxes to overflow, possibly resulting in letters being lost.

Frank Barrett, 85, of East View, Chingford, was shocked to find that he could not post his Christmas mail as the boxes at Chingford Mount post office were full.

"I could only just get my letter through the slot. Cards were spilling out on to the pavement. It was ridiculous. I thought that someone had to do something about it," he said.

Mr Barrett contacted Mr Duncan Smith, whose pressure encouraged the council to impose an amnesty on fining the Royal Mail van until after the Christmas period.

But the problem will come back when the amnesty ends on December 24.

Paula Daniels of Royal Mail is concerned that failure to reach an agreement with the council before the amnesty ends could create a security risk.

"The council wants £3,000 to create a special bay for our van, but I'm not sure that head office is prepared to pay.

"Our vans have to park outside the office because the drivers can't carry the mail any distance. In the past, when they have tried, mail has been stolen. This poses a major security risk."

Mr Duncan Smith plans to continue to put pressure on the council.

He said: "Anyone can see that it is common sense to allow the Post Office delivery van to wait outside the post office."