Royal Mail commits to fixing Hitchin postal deliveries

The promise comes after Hitchin’s MP, Alistair Strathern, called on Royal Mail “to address months of unreliable postal deliveries that have caused significant disruption for residents across Hitchin and the surrounding towns and villages”.

He said his office has received a surge of emails in recent months, reporting repeated delivery failures.

Mr Strathern said these failures have led to missed hospital and GP appointments due to delayed NHS letters, disruption to time sensitive correspondence, and missed roadworks notifications.

“For many residents, these problems are not isolated incidents but part of a sustained pattern of poor service,” Mr Strathern said.

He continued: “Reliable postal delivery is a fundamental service that my constituents are entitled to rely upon.

“Missed NHS appointments, delayed correspondence, and weeks long gaps in delivery are simply unacceptable.

“Royal Mail has a service obligation, and with that comes a responsibility to ensure that communities like ours are not left behind.

“They must act to urgently address this, and if they fail, Ofcom and the government must ensure consequences follow.”

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Blair McDougall, the government minister responsible for postal services, called Royal Mail into Parliament to “make clear things need to improve”, he said, adding: “I know lots of residents have raised issues with postal services in Hitchin, Shefford and the surrounding area. It’s not good enough.”

Royal Mail says it has new recruits joining the local delivery office over the next two weeks, which should help alleviate the problem.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: “We were pleased to meet with Mr Strathern two weeks ago to discuss local challenges.

“We want to reassure customers that the vast majority of mail in the Hitchin area is delivered on time.

“All customers are receiving deliveries at least every other day when there is mail to deliver, and we anticipate that deliveries will return to our usual high standards when our new recruits have completed their training and are familiar with their delivery rounds.”