Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier has begun legal action against Channel 4 over its controversial Dispatches documentary, which claimed that postal workers had intercepted mail and stolen credit cards and other valuables, reports the Sunday Herald.
Crozier has reportedly instructed London law firm Schillings to sue Channel 4 and seek an explanation and apology from the program makers.
Broadcast in April 2004, the documentary was secretly filmed during a period of several months in 2003, and included scenes showing a Royal Mail employee admitting to having stolen credit cards from the mail and passing a stolen card to an undercover reporter.
In an exclusive interview, Crozier told the Sunday Herald that Royal Mail had obtained evidence from Barclaycard that the stolen cards featured in the programme were never in the postal system, but had been delivered via courier firms.
He admitted that the documentary had, however, exposed several serious issues for Royal Mail concerning the recruitment and training of temporary staff.
According to the Sunday Herald, a Channel 4 spokesman said that the incident relating to the alleged theft of Barclaycards by Royal Mail staff was just one part of an hour-long film, and irrespective of the situation with that card, it was obtained fraudulently and fenced by a Royal Mail employee.
He added that Channel 4 stands by the picture of theft within the Royal Mail, and that the documentary clearly highlighted significant areas of concern, and revealed a damning catalogue of poorly trained and ill-disciplined workers and ineffective managers.
