A COURIER has told how his fingertip was severed when he was pushing a parcel through a letter box.

Julian Stefano, 40, of York, claims he suffered the agonising injury when a dog inside the Tadcaster property bit the tip of the finger off.

But police say it is believed he may have suffered the injury when he withdrew his hand quickly from the letterbox after hearing a neighbour's dog barking next door.

Mr Stefano said the incident happened in October 2020 but he was still pursuing legal action in a bid for compensation from the property owner or the courier firm he was working for at the time.

He said he was pushing a small item through the letterbox when he heard a dog barking inside the property. "I am 100 per cent sure it was inside the house," he said.

He said his finger became locked inside the letter box and when he took his hand out he found the end of his finger had been amputated.

"It was agony," he said.

He said police and an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital, accompanied by the finger tip, but claimed he was told when he got there that it should have been kept in ice and it was too late to try to attach it back on.

He said he went to Hull for an operation and was off work for three months, and gave up being a courier.

He said he still suffered pain in the finger, and the injured area also felt permanently cold.

North Yorkshire Police said that a man attended Tadcaster police station at 9.50am on October 16, 2020, to report that he had sustained an injury to his finger while delivering a parcel to a property in the area.

"The man reported that he believed a dog had bitten his finger as he put the parcel through the properties letterbox," said a spokeswoman.

"An officer made inquiries at the property, and found there was no dog present.

"It’s believed the man may have heard a next door neighbour’s dog and removed his hand quickly from the letterbox, causing the injury.

"A part of man’s finger was retrieved from the property by the officer and packed in ice and passed to the attending paramedic.

"No further action was taken due to the nature of the incident."

WARNING: Do NOT click on second, explicit picture showing severed fingertip if squeamish