Delivery driver banned from route after 'taking wife to hospital'

Keith Welsh, 61, was left gutted when the delivery company told him he would no longer be able to cover Walderslade, Wigmore and Boxley in Kent.

He claims he was taken off his route because he took wife Sharon, 65, to hospital when he should have been working.

Evri told him earlier this month he would no longer be able to work in his old area - and would instead be reduced to covering general shifts as and when they came up.

It was then that the community Keith served in Kent rallied and launched a petition calling for him to be reinstated - which attracted more than 58,000 signatures.

Yesterday (Tues) Evri said it had spoken to the driver and it would be offering him a new route - which is closer to his home.

Reacting to the news, Keith, from Leysdown, Kent, said: "It is amazing really. I have done this job for nine years so I know a lot of people - but now they are coming from everywhere.

"I have been reading all the comments and they are so nice.

"My customers have been really good to me.

"It is because of all of you that I have my job back. This has 110 per cent happened because of the petition and all the support."

Keith is a self-employed courier for Evri, which means he can set his own schedule but needs to make sure a certain area is covered.

His wife Sharon had two strokes in November last year, and has had to attend a number of follow-up appointments at St Thomas' Hospital in London - which he has taken her to.

But he says after turning up to work earlier this month, after a hospital visit, he was told his rounds were being taken away for him.

He said: "I spoke to two big managers three weeks ago and they said it would be alright for me to take it off.

"After my wife had the strokes last year I told them I would need to take time off to take her to appointments which they said would be okay.

"But when I went in the next day they told me they were taking my rounds off me because I had gone to the hospital.

"My wife, because she's had strokes, her brain doesn't function enough and she doesn't register everything.

"If I wasn't with her she wouldn't make it to the hospital. I'm her carer and she needs someone with her."

Evri told the employee they would offer him cover work instead - but Keith says in the three weeks since he never heard anything back.

A petition was then launched October 4 on Change.org, which said "dependable and friendly" Keith was "unjustly let go from his job for a compassionate act of taking his wife to the hospital".

Now, nearly three weeks later and he has been offered an entirely new set of rounds - which are closer to his home.

Mr Welsh is not sure exactly where the new route will cover, but he has been told it is in Sittingbourne, Kent.

The delivery driver says he believes this call was down to the "hundreds" of supportive messages from people across Medway who he's got to know over the years.

Neil Relf, who has had his parcels delivered by Keith for eight years, said: "There's been a lot of outcry since everyone found out what happened.

"After that long of someone delivering your parcels you get to know them so I was aware that his wife was unwell and that he needed to take her to an appointment.

"I don't know him on a personal level but he works in all sorts of conditions - in the wind and the rain. He's part of the community and he's a brilliant guy."

Keith says that he has no regrets, and is extremely thankful to his customers for all their love and support.

He added: "I have absolutely brilliant customers and I've known them for years."

"The customers have done all this for me. One of them set up the petition for me.

"I would do the same again. That's my wife, if she needs to go to the hospital then I will be there."

The driver has reluctantly accepted the new rounds to provide for his family, and is hoping sharing his story will stop the same happening to others.

He said: "I didn't really want to go back to Evri, but it is a job isn't it.

"They could do this again. I need to share my story or they will just do the same next week."

Evri on the other hand claims it had been flexible with Keith "on multiple occasions" over the last year-and-a-half which drove them to give his round to a "reliable courier".

An Evri spokesperson said: "We will always support couriers balancing family life and work commitments and we've supported Mr Welsh by offering flexibility over a period of 18 months.

"We deliver 99 per cent of parcels on time and the reliability of our couriers is essential to maintain this level of service and build trust in the communities being served.

"Our requirements for rounds do change in line with service needs and we have offered Mr Welsh a choice of rounds in the local area.

"We're really pleased that he has accepted this and welcome his continued service."