D4 to get a special post service today

A special postal service will operate today for Dublin 4 residents, who have not received mail for two days due to an anthrax scare.

A spokeswoman for An Post, Ms Anna McHugh, said the two-day closure of the area's delivery office in Ballsbridge had caused "massive disruption".

Today's postal service will deliver Thursday and Friday's mail to business and residential customers in the area.

Ms McHugh said the inclusion of items such as baby milk formula and body building supplement in packages had caused alarm. "It's been a very difficult time for staff," she said, "particularly those who have had to go through the decontamination process and their families."

Ms McHugh said the postal service in Dublin 4 would be back to normal by Tuesday, following the bank holiday weekend.

She appealed to everyone sending letters and parcels by post in the coming days to include a return address in the top, left-hand corner of the envelope.

"It's good practice at any time, but particularly at the moment," she said. Meanwhile, hoax anthrax scares and false alarms continued to keep emergency services occupied yesterday.

A package was removed from O'Connell Street Garda station yesterday morning during an operation that involved the Army, the fire brigade and garda∅.

In the afternoon, another scare took place at the Dublin Corporation premises in Bow Lane.

An envelope containing white powder was discovered and taken away for analysis. Meanwhile, two letters from foreign locations were treated with suspicion at a premises in Monkstown.