Coulby residents see no sign of a postie ‘in a week’ after ‘temporary reduction in service’ due to covid

Residents in Coulby Newham have been encountering post issues with some claiming not to have seen any sign of a postie in a week.

Those living in the area have said they’ve experienced a reduction in service for the past few days, with Royal Mail saying the issue could be down to the “challenging circumstances” brought on by the covid-19 pandemic.

A resident, who lives in Stainton, said: “We haven’t had a delivery or seen any sign of a postman or woman for about a week until we got one on Tuesday.

“From reading comments on Facebook it’s plain others in the area have gone without mail and have been wondering why.”

Royal Mail told Teesside Live that the issues could be down to covid-related absences at local delivery offices.

A spokesman for the postal service said: “Every item of mail is important to Royal Mail.

“Throughout this crisis, every decision we make puts the health of our people and customers first.

“We were the first UK company to put in place social-distancing measures in relation to parcel delivery.

“We pioneered contact-free delivery. Standard ways of working have been revised to ensure that colleagues stay two metres apart.

“We are working hard to deliver the most comprehensive service we can to all our customers in challenging circumstances.

“Despite our best endeavours, it is possible that some areas of the country may on occasion experience a temporary reduction in service levels due to coronavirus-related absences and necessary social distancing measures at their local mail centre or delivery office.”

He added: “In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing a normal service as quickly as we can.

“We always endeavour to keep our customers as informed as we can of any changes to our services.

“We have a dedicated section on our website https://www.royalmail.com/coronavirus.”