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Lola McEvoy raised an urgent question in parliament last week after hearing how residents in Darlington had been impacted by Royal Mail service failures.
The MP raised examples of people who have contacted her about cases that have been raised, including someone’s application to join the Royal Navy.
The application included important personal documents, and, despite using Royal Mail’s tracking system, the application was lost.
Ms McEvoy also raised an example of another resident who was due to get compensation from Royal Mail following a late delivery, only for the cheque to bounce.
Raising an urgent question, the Darlington MP said: “I would like to put on the record that, despite testimony to the contrary, it is Darlington’s postal workers who are the best in the country.
“They deliver their service to the best of their abilities, and they also provide a social service; their visit is often the only one that residents get. I want to draw the Minister’s attention to two quite shocking cases that constituents have brought to me.
“One constituent, despite using the tracking system, has had their application form to join the Royal Navy go awry, which is obviously causing huge delays.
“Another constituent successfully gained compensation from Royal Mail for a late delivery, but the cheque, which was sent in the post, bounced.
“I would like the Minister to allay some of our fears about crucial public services, and the postal communications from our Departments and arm’s length bodies.”
In response to Ms McEvoy’s question, Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, agreed to continue to pressurise Royal Mail, directly and through their regulator Ofcom, to improve the service in Darlington.
Darlington is not the only town in the region to be affected by poor Royal Mail service.
Residents in Spennymoor said they are living in a ‘nightmare’ as people are missing hospital appointments due to delays in their mail.
Lisa, 50, who lives in Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, says deliveries in her neighbourhood have become increasingly unreliable, with some households receiving post as infrequently as once every two weeks.
She claimed the issue has already led to people missing important hospital appointments.
Lisa emphasised that while residents appreciate the efforts of postal workers, she believes staffing levels are not sufficient to meet demand across the area.
Earlier this week, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know how important it is that customers receive their mail on time, particularly when it includes items such as medical letters.
“We always aim to deliver all mail as expected and recent figures show around 92 per cent of letters arrive on time, but we recognise performance is not yet where it needs to be in all areas.
“Where there are local issues, these are typically caused by temporary resourcing pressures, and we focus on restoring normal service as quickly as possible.”
The postal service has been approached for further comment.
