Dog causes postal ban

Britain's national postal service is refusing to deliver anything to a street because of a dog.

Residents in more than 30 homes in Cornwall have been told by Royal Mail that they will have to pick up their own post from their nearest office after a worker claimed to have been bitten by Rusty the Jack Russell.

Although the pooch's owner Karen Mitchell denies he ever harmed anybody, Rusty has been condemned an "unacceptable hazard to staff".

Karen said: "He's actually my five-year-old son's and sleeps in the bed with him. He's just a small yappy dog. If the kids open the front door, he runs out.

"He barks but if you walk towards him he just runs away. He's never bitten anyone."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Our main aim is to prevent attacks and to train staff in techniques to help keep them safe.

"The suspension of mail deliveries is a last resort."