Royal Mail fails to deliver in Croydon and issues public apology

EXCLUSIVE: Former employees have claimed that the Factory Lane delivery depot has been seriously under-staffed, as employee illness affects services once again

Businesses and residents in one Croydon post code have not been getting a third-class postal service in 2025 – they’ve been getting no service whatsoever.

The Royal Mail has admitted that there have been problems with widespread sickness at its Factory Lane sorting office, which provides deliveries to the CR0 postcode area of central Croydon.

Some addresses in this area have gone for almost two weeks without having a single item of mail delivered, meaning often vital items, including urgent notifications of NHS hospital appointments or essential GP visits, have not arrived on time.

In some cases, even medical prescriptions ordered on the internet have failed to be delivered.

Since late last year, the price of a first class stamp, supposedly offering next-day delivery, has been £1.65.

In a statement issued to Inside Croydon, Royal Mail did not confirm whether other Croydon postcodes, such as CR2 in South Croydon, CR7 in Thornton Heath or SE25 in South Norwood, have been similarly affected – these and other areas around Croydon have their post sorted and distributed from other offices.

Inside Croydon has reported before on the struggles at the Factory Lane sorting depot when the area’s postal deliveries have been adversely affected by outbreaks of covid among its staff; the last notable absence of any delivery service being in 2023.

But Royal Mail refused to comment today on what the nature of the illness suffered by its staff on this occasion.

With the management of Royal Mail having cut back on staff numbers, following industrial action and wide-scale redundancies, the operation at Factory Lane no longer has the resilience to deal with the absence of several posties at the same time. Former employees have expressed the view that the Royal Mail deliveries service in Croydon has been significantly under-staffed for several years.

Royal Mail has, for now at least, a legal responsibility to maintain once-a-day deliveries, six days a week. But repeatedly in Croydon, it has been struggling to ensure reliable deliveries even once a week.

Today, Royal Mail issued an apology to residents in the affected areas, and claimed that service is returning to normal.

In a statement issued to Inside Croydon, a spokesperson said: “Some routes have recently experienced temporary delays due to a higher level of sick absence than usual at the delivery office.

“We can confirm service is now returning to normal.

“Items are being delivered daily and any routes that are not completed are prioritised the following day. We thank customers for their patience.”

Inside Croydon is keen to hear from any residents or business owners who have been affected by the missing postal deliveries, or from any Royal Mail employees, past or present, on their experiences working for the business in recent times. All correspondence will, of course, be treated confidentially, although we do ask that you include details of the postcode where your deliveries have been affected, or the sorting depot where you work or worked.

Read more: Age UK calls for Mayor Khan to act against Post Office closures

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