Islington people report Royal Mail delays, ‘in Holloway’

Residents have reported weeks-long delays in the postal services around Islington.

The problem, which first emerged in late November or early December, seems to have particularly impacted the Holloway area, this newspaper understands.

One resident, who contacted the Gazette, was told by a postman that workers are clearing a backlog at the sorting office amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

They also claimed people are “lucky if they receive any post once or twice a week”.

There have also been accounts of Christmas cards arriving this week – nearly a fortnight after December 25.

You may also want to watch:

Royal Mail has not confirmed a problem at any particular sorting office or given an indication of how big a backlog it could have. 

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “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.

“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.”

They said that throughout the pandemic “every decision we make puts the health of our people and customers first” and claimed to be the “first UK company to put in place social-distancing measures in relation to parcel delivery”.

“We pioneered contact-free delivery,” they added.

• Have you had problems with deliveries? We’d like to hear from you. Get in contact on Frances.Berry@Archant.co.uk.