People in Snodland left without post for more than two weeks due to Royal Mail problems

Royal Mail issues have left people in a Kent town waiting more than two weeks to receive their post.

A number of streets in Snodland, near Maidstone, are having to make do with their mail arriving on an almost fortnightly basis with some having to collect their post themselves from the nearby sorting office.

Frustrated Kim Klein, who lives in Constitution Hill, hasn’t had any post delivered since March 31 and fears the delays could affect postal votes for the upcoming elections of people paying their bills.

She said: “I went down to the sorting office the other day to get my mother’s post.

“We’re in the process of selling her house and need some important letters delivered.

“She’s in a nursing home so if I didn’t have the power of attorney I don’t know how I would have been able to collect her mail.

“It took me an hour to get it and even after I did I couldn’t collect my own because I didn’t have proof of address.

“I don’t know why we’re heavily affected. My sister in Yorkshire is getting deliveries daily and my son in Bolton is having no issue at all.

“We’re having to take it in turns to go to the sorting office each day just to collect our post.”

Having only two deliveries in six weeks, the 69-year-old and her husband Daniel say it is affecting their business, where they export scrap metal and wool.

Daniel, also 69, added: “Owning our own company means we can only have certain documents delivered.

“We have lost money and missed deliveries because the correct paperwork hasn’t been delivered in time.”

Daniel also lost money when trying to sell his car due to a delay in the post deliveries.

He continued: “I wanted to sell my car and the best way to do so was through WeBuyAnyCar.com.

“They offered me a quote, but because I had personalised number plates I needed to send off documents to change it back to the original plates.

“It took 12 days to arrive, meaning my quote had expired and when I went through the process again the company offered me £700 less.”

Kim admitted she is concerned for others over the long waits, which could be costly to a lot of neighbours.

‘We’re signed up for the postal vote but we haven’t received it yet…’

She said: “What are the elderly suppose to do? People get their bills through the door meaning by the time they see it they could be charged for not paying the bills they never got in time.

“Elections are coming up as well and some people would be wanting to use their postal vote as now you need ID to vote at a station.

“We’re signed up for the postal vote but we haven’t received it yet.”

Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch revealed she has spoken directly to Royal Mail to try and resolve the problem.

The Conservative politician said: “While there have been issues across the constituency there has been an acute issue in Snodland, which I understand has been discussed on local resident pages.

“This afternoon I have spoken to Royal Mail about the specific issues at the Medway Valley Sorting Office. They explained that they changed delivery rounds around a month ago for ME6, ME18, ME19 and ME20.

“This, along with the shortage of personnel, has caused some disruption for which they apologise profusely.

“Apparently the Snodland rounds have a higher level of absence than other rounds and are therefore being covered by others who might not be as familiar with the routes.

“They do dispute the length of absence of mail that some are saying they’ve had and explained a process that takes place which would see most people suffer without post for at most 4 days, but nonetheless they reassure me they are working hard to get the service back up to its expected level as quickly as possible.

“They will be shortly advertising for the vacancies but at the moment are trying to use as many agency staff to fill the shortfall.”

“I fully understand that this disruption has caused concern, particularly when people are waiting for hospital appointments as per those who have contacted me.

“However I think our local posties and the team at the sorting office work their socks off, and did do throughout Covid, so I hope that all of this gets resolved not just for residents but for those who are working long hours to deliver a service under enormous pressure too.

The sorting office’s opening hours vary from day to day opening at 8am and the latest it closes is on a Thursday at 6pm.

As a result, some residents working a normal working day will not be able to collect their post until the weekend.

Speaking with workers at the sorting office in Snodland, Kim was told there has been a staff shortage and personnel have not been replaced – something Royal Mail has confirmed.

A spokesman for the delivery company said: “We are very sorry some residents have experienced delays within Snodland. This is an important issue, and every effort is being made locally to ensure customers are receiving the quality of service we are committed to.

“Recently, the local service has been impacted by a higher level of sickness than usual and some resourcing issues.

“To resolve this, we have brought in temporary staff to manage this current workload and have plans for recruitment to ensure any future workload is managed effectively.

“There will be a noticeable improvement going forward, and we encourage anyone with concerns about the delivery of their mail to please contact customer service.”