Eastbourne councillor calls on the boss of Royal Mail to tackle local post problems

An Eastbourne councillor has called on Royal Mail to review its system after the most recent delay in deliveries.

Councillor Alan Shuttleworth said he has written to the chief executive of Royal Mail about the lack of public information on the problem that has impacted residents in the Langney area.

The Langney councillor said he has also asked for Royal Mail to review its response processes when there is a particular problem with delivery of post to a local area.

Mr Shuttleworth said, “Many of the Langney residents that I represent have been left waiting for three weeks for important mail and left with no information about why their deliveries are not arriving.

“I have spoken to Royal Mail and to the local office about the problems they have been experiencing and I understand that the Westham sorting office was effectively unable to deliver mail from November 11-19 and has had a reduced service around these dates as a result of a covid-19 outbreak.

“People understand that covid-19 has impacted businesses but don’t understand why the public were left in the dark, and why mitigations were not put in place more quickly to use resources from other areas to minimise the disruption and service delay.”

The councillor said Langney residents have reported waiting for important mail about NHS appointments and that their phone calls and emails have been ignored.

Mr Shuttleworth said, “The sorting office are prioritising the current mail and gradually processing and delivering the backlog.

“I intend to press for a review of the systems to ensure that information is communicated more easily to the wider public as well as systems to find alternative solutions to tackle this type of problem.

“Royal Mail should have been able to bring in extra staff following the deep clean to process and deliver the backlog more quickly.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said, “We apologise to customers for any delays they may have experienced in some parts of Eastbourne. The vast majority of mail and parcels are delivered safely and on time.

“In recent weeks, we have implemented revisions to our postmen and women’s routes in Eastbourne to ensure they reflect changes in the local area, such as new residential developments, and are fairer and more balanced to reflect the growth in parcel deliveries.

“Unfortunately, these changes also coincided with a higher than normal rate of sickness absence in the local area which placed additional pressure on the operation. We are working hard to resolve the situation.”