Postal workers are getting lessons from police about how to deliver letters without getting bitten by dogs.

Eighty postmen and women from Sutton have been taking tips on how to feed post through letterboxes while avoiding canine gnashers.

PC Heath Keogh, of Sutton's anti-social behaviour unit advised postal workers to post letters using a posting peg rather than their fingers if a feisty dog is inside.

He said: "If dogs use their teeth to grab the post as it comes through, then they are only going to nip the paperclip rather than your fingers."

The talks were part of Sutton's Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) initiative, set up after a woman was killed by a dog in Wallington tow days before Christmas in 2010.