An Post has revealed that there's been a rise of reported dog attacks on their workers in 2016, Kilkenny People reports.

137 dog attacks took place last year, compared to 123 in 2013 and 115 in 2012.

27 of those attacks were significant enough that the employee required time off work, with an average of three postmen attacked every week by a dog across Ireland.

A spokesperson for An Post said that a dog attack is classified as such when an employee was “attacked or bitten by a dog”, and no longer feels safe to deliver post to that address.

He added: “Staff are under no obligation to deliver mail to an address where they feel they might be at risk. We would also ask householders to be mindful of potential incidents that might occur.”

It's understood that the majority of the attacks took place in urban areas.

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