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There has been no shortage of headlines in recent weeks about the mounting problems with Royal Mail deliveries across Shropshire. Missed post, long delays and inconsistent rounds have left many residents, including in North Shropshire, frustrated.
First and second-class post are now seemingly meaningless categories. Like others, I’ve heard many experiences from residents who rely on Royal Mail for their NHS correspondence or time sensitive post such as legal documents or even parking fines. Delays are costly to their health, time and finances and several constituents have told me that they missed vital NHS appointments because letters took a week to reach them.
I’ve even received reports of a local person being charged with contempt of court for not returning court papers in time even though the papers didn’t arrive until after the due date.
But the delays have gone beyond frustration in some cases, leaving vulnerable residents feeling completely cut off from the outside world.
I highlighted this sense of isolation in a Parliamentary debate on rural postal services last week and shared the story of 88-year-old Jean, from Weston Rhyn, who wrote to me to explain that she now feels “completely isolated” in her village as she’s unable to withdraw cash or even buy a stamp.
How can we justify leaving vulnerable people isolated in this way in 2026? I have visited sorting offices, spoken to posties and joined for a delivery round myself. Staff are working extremely hard and should not be blamed for service standards dropping.
But something is clearly going wrong and sadly, the situation with the post is symptomatic of what I see as a managed decline of essential rural services.
Poor postal services, patchy mobile phone signal, bad broadband and terrible public transport links are having a grave impact on people’s lives and wellbeing in North Shropshire, including some of the most vulnerable.
When I met with Royal Mail’s director of operations responsible for the region last week, it was accepted that current service levels fall short of expectations and there was an apology. Senior managers have reportedly stepped in, with commitments to increased recruitment and the creation of new delivery rounds to relieve overstretched staff.
But a sustained lack of investment, coupled with successive government cuts, have had a severe impact on those living in rural areas.
With many banks closing and digital services often unreliable due to poor mobile or broadband coverage, alternatives like online banking are simply no good if you live in a village where you can’t get a mobile signal and there’s no access to full fibre broadband.
The problems stretch far beyond postal delays. From transport to internet connectivity, rural areas have been continually disadvantaged and now require a substantial boost in investment to prevent communities like Jean’s from being left behind.
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