Royal Mail ‘sorry’ after delivery delays with more problems ahead

Postal firm the Royal Mail has apologised after customers experienced delays over the Christmas period.

Whilst slower mail is usually common for the festive period, this year has been particularly difficult.

Royal Mail has said that it is doing its best to get parcels to people on time but that there are still delays for certain parts of the country.

According to the Mirror, deliveries are believed to have been running close to normal across most of the country, as of December 30 and December 31. However, issues have been partly caused by illnesses, covid-19 self-isolation, resourcing and local factors in the affected postcodes.

Discussing the delays in the postcodes affected, the Royal Mail said: “We’re sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

“We will regularly update customers on the offices most impacted here.”

Which areas have been affected by Royal Mail delays?

The following mail centres and postcodes have been affected by delays over the past week.

• South Midlands Mail Centre: CV, LE, MK and NN postcode areas.
• Chester Mail Centre: CH, LL and SY postcode areas affected.
• Birmingham Mail Centre: B, HR and WR postcode areas.
• Warrington Mail Centre: CW, L, WA and WN postcode areas.
• Croydon Mail Centre: BR, CR, SE and SM postcode areas.

Over the past week delivery delays have been seen in:

• Chelmsford DO (CM1 to CM3)
• East Dulwich (SE22)
• Finsbury Park DO (N4 and N15)
• Gerrards Cross DO (SL9)
• Havant DO (PO9-10)
• Herne Hill DO (SE24)
• Hornsey DO (N8)
• Oxted DO (RH8)
• South Croydon DO (CR2)
• St. Helens DO (WA9 to WA11)
• Sydenham DO (SE26)
• Upminster DO (RM14)
• Willesden DO (NW10 and NW26)

The Royal Mail’s website reflects the state of its service and provides updates about what customers can expect. It makes clear to users that it used not only the roads but also rail and airways to move parcels and letters around the country as efficiently as possible.

At the time of writing the service has warned there will be no collections on New Years Day.

They say: “Ofcom has granted an exception to the universal service throughout the United Kingdom for Saturday 1 January 2022. This means that Royal Mail will not collect or deliver mail on that day.

“Normal deliveries and collections resume on 4 January 2022, with the exception of Scotland due to a Public Holiday.”

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