Edinburgh courier June Dyer clocks up million miles

Well-travelled Eagle Couriers driver June Dyer. Picture: contributed

But courier June Dyer joked that there are more potholes on the city’s roads than craters on the lunar surface.

The 58-year-old courier from Musselburgh is thought to have covered more miles in the Capital than anyone else.

Averaging 700 miles a week for the last 32 years, June has driven around 1.04 million miles in and around the city’s roads for Eagle Couriers.

In that time the former Miss Lothian 1976 has had some out-of-this-world experiences, including picking up Madonna’s wedding dress from Edinburgh Airport and returning a lost cat to its owner.

June once sparked a flurry of calls to the emergency services when she parked up on one of the city’s busiest roads to attend to her troublesome SatNav – a move which sparked concerns from the public that she was suffering a heart attack.

She said: “The biggest change as a courier is the sheer amount of traffic on the roads. It would be quite amazing to go back and see how it has all changed since day one – there was certainly less time spent waiting at traffic lights.

“One of the main problems is when they shut off the road and there is no-one working there for days. And when the work is finally finished, the next thing is they are digging it all up again.

“The pothole situation is getting worse. I have never been to the moon but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more potholes and craters on the city’s roads.”

Among her more unusual deliveries was a cat named Samson who vanished from his home in Penicuik in 2008, only to turn up more than a year later, 500 miles away in Plymouth.

June returned him to his delighted owner in Scotland – a service which Eagle performed free of charge to ensure a happy ending.

Fiona Deas, co-director of Eagle Couriers, said: “June has been here since the start of Eagle Couriers when we were just a small operation based in Edinburgh.

“She is a huge character and a pleasure to work with. It is quite staggering to think of the sheer number of miles she has clocked up, especially when you consider it is predominantly on Edinburgh’s difficult streets, not motorway cruising.”

June’s driving bugbears are unexpected roadworks, changes to the one-way system and congestion hotspots such as Queen Street, John Street, Frederick Street and The Mound.

But she still loves the job and has no plan to hang up her driving gloves any time soon.

“I love driving and I love Edinburgh – so this job suits me to a T,” she said. “The day I wake up and struggle to find the motivation to work may be the day I choose to retire, but there is no sign of that happening any time soon.”

Eagle is headquartered in West Lothian with bases across Scotland and delivers everything from documents, medical samples and engine parts to sports footage, scripts and TV props.

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