Letterbox bandits taunt Whangārei Heads locals by pinching post

Whangārei Heads locals say letterboxes in clusters on the main road are the ones most often hit by thieves. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Dormant letterbox bandits are back to pinching post from frustrated Whangārei Heads locals, who say they've had gutsful after more than two years of mail theft.

Parua Bay resident Kayla Chaplin was fuming thieves raided her Timperley Rd letterbox – taking a parcel sent from Timaru with a sentimental personalised gift for her dad inside.

"It has no value to anyone else. I don't know what I'll do for Father's Day now, I'm definitely not going to risk getting anything else."

The seller kindly offered Chaplin a replacement to be sent directly to her parents – which avoided sending mail to her address.

"It's c*** you can't even get mail sent to your own letterbox," she said.

When Chaplin spoke to her neighbours, whose letterboxes were grouped along with hers, they revealed they hadn't had mail in weeks.

Sadly, she said, the thefts were nothing new but whoever was behind it had been quiet recently. Although they packed a harder punch now people relied on the post for essentials during lockdown, Chaplin said.

New Zealand Post recently announced they were employing strategies to avoid a big spike of parcel deliveries as regions moved into level 3 – where more than just essentials could be mailed.

Chaplin said she'll have to send her parcels to her parents in town and pick them up when lockdown lifts.

"Lockdown is already crazy and hectic enough without adding the fact you can't even receive the things you need."

A Campbell Rd resident said she'd been lucky to avoid having her letterbox targeted until recently when thieves made off with a bounty of two coffee sachets, noodles, an instant pudding and a lemon.

"I mean, what are they going to do with those," she chuckled.

The woman said thieves had to travel around 2.5km down Campbell Rd – a low-key road in the rural coastal community – to nab the contents of her letterbox.

Even though the steal had a comical side, what wasn't funny to the woman was the fact mail theft had been a constant issue in the area for more than two years.

"One of the other neighbour's hand made birthday present for her 7-year-old son was taken. That's pretty s*****," she said.

The woman said the "stupid" and "ridiculous" thefts often ended in unwanted post dumped onto the roadside.

Many locals opted to send their mail to friends and family in the city or padlock their letterboxes and provide the postie a key.

But the woman said her friend's entire letterbox was uplifted – padlock, parcel, and all.

A third Whangārei Heads resident said when she lived on Owhiwa Rd there were numerous occasions where people would come home to find their entire mailboxes missing.

"It has been an issue for a long time, the posties work so hard combating this," she said.

According to NZ Post, mail theft after delivery was a police matter and people were not entitled to compensation unless a signature-required service was used and the parcel was mistakenly left at a property without a signature and then stolen.

Police were continuing to make inquiries into the ongoing thefts. They encouraged the public to record any important details related to suspicious behaviour and report it via 105 - especially if people noticed a vehicle following a courier van.

People were also encouraged to use a lock and check their letterboxes regularly – especially if they knew a parcel was about to be delivered.