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Published:
5:44 PM January 7, 2022
Updated:
5:48 PM January 7, 2022
Hornsey residents have spoken of their frustration with lost or delayed post, with one told by a postal delivery person of “piles of parcels” waiting to be picked up.
Royal Mail said there have been delays in Hornsey due to staff being off because of Covid.
Becky Ghani, who lives in Middle Lane, said she has been having issues receiving post since the start of December, with five parcels currently missing.
She said: “I spoke to one of the posties and he said there’s basically just piles and piles of parcels at the Hornsey delivery office. So I was asking him if I should report them to be lost, and he said it’s likely that they’re in these piles of parcels.”
Luckily, most of Becky’s post does not contain anything of particular value. One parcel, however, contains a skirt her husband’s auntie made her, which she is understandably keen to ensure is not lost.
“A couple of Christmas presents didn’t turn up which was annoying”, she said, “but the eBay people have offered to refund it if they don’t turn up.
“The skirt is the main thing, because it’s a handmade thing from some material that I’d kept for years, not quite sure what to do with it, and then finally decided to get something done with it, and now it’s lost.”
While she does not believe it is malicious, Becky does think the issue could be solved by getting some temporary staff in, adding: “It’s not the end of the world, it’s just annoying.”
Becky is not the only one struggling with deliveries. She said she has seen people in the area raising the issue on Facebook, and others have voiced their frustrations in online Google reviews for the Hornsey Delivery Office.
Catherine West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, raised the issue earlier in the week in a letter to the government.
In the letter, she noted her “serious concerns about Royal Mail service levels in Hornsey and Wood Green”.
She later told the Ham&High: “These problems have been devastating for residents.
“I’ve heard from people who’ve missed vital hospital appointments, who’ve suffered weeks anxiously waiting for cancer test results and from elderly, isolating residents who’ve spent Christmas feeling completely cut off from family and friends without a single card or gift arriving.
“Frontline postal workers are doing a really tough job. This is a failure of Royal Mail bosses, who knew how badly our area was hit last year and should have been investing their record profits back into services and staffing.
“I believe the short-sighted decision to close Hornsey Sorting Office has made the problems worse and as well as meeting with Royal Mail bosses and raising in Parliament, I continue to campaign hard for Royal Mail to bring back a local office.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time. We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.
“In Hornsey, we are experiencing some delays to service due to high levels of sickness absence and Covid related self-isolation as well as resourcing issues.
“We apologise to any customers who may have experienced delays to their mail. We have been working hard to get our levels of service back to normal as soon as possible.
“Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website www.royalmail.com.”
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