Christmas cards are still stuck in the post as Covid-fuelled staff shortages hit deliveries 

Twelfth Night has come and gone – but the Royal Mail is still delivering Christmas cards amid Covid staff shortages.

Customers in more than 90 postcode areas across the country are affected.

With around a third of staff isolating or off sick, in some places post is being delivered only every other day. Last week 77 delivery offices did not have regular services.

Royal Mail said it was recruiting temporary staff and moving staff around.

A spokesman added: ‘We are providing targeted support to the local offices affected by these issues.’

Despite a struggling service, Royal Mail reported pre-tax profits of £315million in the six months to the end of September.

This is up from £17million a year earlier.

The company was privatised in 2013 and the Government sold its final shares in the company in 2015.

In 2020 Royal Mail was fined £1.5million by Ofcom for failing to deliver first-class post on time.

The communications regulator said the postal service missed its target of delivering at least 93 per cent of first-class items within a day of collection.

Only 91.5 per cent of first-class post reached its destination on time in the financial year ending in 2019, according to Ofcom.

Royal Mail did meet its obligations the following year.

Despite a struggling service, Royal Mail reported pre-tax profits of £315million in the six months to the end of September. This is up from £17million a year earlier

An Ofcom spokesman said: ‘We know how important a reliable postal service is to customers, and we can take action if Royal Mail fails to meet our annual targets.

‘We closely monitor its delivery performance throughout the year, and have made it clear to the company that it must improve as the impacts of the pandemic subside.

‘We will assess Royal Mail’s compliance after it has reported on its overall performance for the whole financial year.’

A Royal Mail spokesman said: ‘Deliveries are operating as normal across most of the country. We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.

‘In a small number of local offices this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as Covid-related self-isolation, higher than usual levels of sickness absence, resourcing or other local factors.

‘We are providing targeted support to the local offices affected by these issues and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience they may have experienced. Our postmen and women are continuing to work incredibly hard, as they have done throughout the pandemic, and we are thankful for all of their efforts and determination.’