A Poole resident had a parcel delivered in a bin – before it was then emptied by refuse collectors.

Lucky Prior, from Poole, had ordered a parcel from ASOS, the online clothing store, on Saturday November 19.

She had paid for next day delivery, but the package had still not arrived before she had to go to London for work on Tuesday November 22.

When she returned to Poole that weekend, she checked her emails to see a delivery notification from Wednesday, from parcel delivery service, Evri. The email had an image of the ‘safe place’ that the courier had delivered the parcel to.

“I saw the photo of an Asos parcel in my recycling bin,” she said.

Bournemouth Echo:

“I checked the time, and I thought I hope it’s still there. [My partner] said it was bin day on Thursday, so it probably won’t be there.

“It was so ridiculous.”

She had intended to return the contents of the parcel when she received it, as she had reordered some of the items to be delivered to her in London.

“Luckily, the Asos team were really good, I had to go through the live chat with their customer care, and they have to do a 48-hour investigation into what happened to the parcel,” Ms Prior said.

“At times it was a bit intimidating because they were saying things like if there’s a false statement you could be prosecuted. I didn’t put it in the bin, I didn’t say that yes, this is a safe place.”

Thankfully, following the company’s investigation, she was issued a full refund, and says she looks on the whole incident with humour.

“I am looking at this with humour now, I’m not really annoyed. I think it’s hilarious that the bin men took the parcel thanks to Evri.”

A spokesperson from Evri said: “We apologise for the inconvenience of the delivery location which is clearly not a safe place and we will address this with the local courier.

"We’re pleased the customer did the right thing contacting the retailer and has received a refund.”