Brighton woman’s cards arrive late after Royal Mail delays

Liz Collins celebrated her 83rd birthday at her home in Patcham, Brighton, on January 7.

However, she was disappointed when the majority of her birthday cards didn’t arrive on the day.

She explained: “I kept having friends phone asking if I’d got their card and I kept having to say no.

“I said to the postman the other day, what is going on in Brighton?”

The pile of post which was put through Liz’s door on Tuesday (Image: NQ)

Almost losing hope that she would receive the post, on Tuesday (January 13) Ms Collins was unexpectedly greeted by a postman at the door who handed her a huge pile of letters which they were struggling to fit through the letterbox.

As well as 14 of her birthday cards, the pile included two editions of the Radio Times, advertisements, and bills.

Ms Collins noted how one card, which had been sent first class, showed a stamp from the Gatwick Mail Centre dated January 2 – ten days prior to the date she received her post.

She said: “I was upset for the sake of the people who posted the cards. I’m cross.

“I was not expecting any hospital appointments but if I had been, I could’ve missed them.”

The card stamped January 2 (Image: NQ)

In a bid to find out what happened, Ms Collins attempted to contact Royal Mail over the phone but was shocked to be told it would be an hour wait to speak with an operator.

Only when trying at 9.30am on Wednesday (January 14) did the time decrease to 50 minutes.

Brighton woman left without birthday cards due to royal mail delays (Image: NQ)

“I tried a number of times to phone Royal Mail. Three times I pressed all the buttons and was told it was a wait time of 60 minutes,” Ms Collins said.

She told The Argus that this wasn’t the first time she’d experienced issues with the post in the area, describing how she often “doesn’t get post for three days” and described the situation as “really bad”.

Royal Mail apologised for the incident and said the recent delays were due to staff absence and icy roads.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: “Icy conditions and resourcing challenges have recently impacted on deliveries to Westfield Crescent.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and our posties are going above and beyond to ensure regular deliveries resume as quickly as possible.”