South London neighbourhood where residents ‘forced to collect their own Royal Mail letters and haven’t seen their postman in months’

South London residents have expressed their frustration at postal services after being left for as much as two weeks without receiving their mail at home. Residents of Bromley and surrounding areas have resorted to travelling miles into town to collect their letters over the last few months, as postal staff failed to turn up on their doorstep.

Locals say it is only one of many examples across the country that has gone wrong, and staff striking has made the situation worse. Some have said there are rumours that these most recent issues are due to there being low staff numbers in the area.

Joanne Sinclaire, 62, a portrait artist who lives in Hayes, said that she and her mother – who lives in Newington – have been left waiting for items to be dropped through their letterbox for as many as 10 days. This , she says, has included not receiving birthday cards on time from family members who sent them five days in advance.

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Sipping her coffee in the warm May sunshine, she said: “It’s a standing joke, isn’t it? At one time, we’ve had no mail for seven days or eight days. It could have even been 10 days. It’s shocking, all of us neighbours are saying, ‘Have you had any mail?’

“They started delivering on Sundays at one point to catch it up. Now it’s been topped off with a couple of strikes. The country’s gone to the dogs, and it’s not just this. It’s never going to be like it was again – everyone knows that now.

“My family, an uncle and sister from Oxford and Wales even sent my birthday cards in April five days in advance. But do you think I got them? No, I didn’t. They were fuming.”

Another woman walking past Bromley’s Royal Mail base, who wished not to be named, said it has improved lately, but at its worst she had been waiting for weeks for her letters. She said: “It’s been a wee bit better lately, but we were at one point getting post sometimes only about every two weeks really.” Asked if she had had to travel to her nearest delivery office to pick them up, she added: “No, I haven’t bothered.”

A different woman, who also asked to remain anonymous, had just come out of the building. The 69-year-old said: “I’ve been going to the office every day to get my letters, it’s terrible.”

She added: “I live in Bromley, Plaistow Lane, and for three months I’ve only received maybe three deliveries. So I come and collect my letters every day – sometimes two times a day.”

A 62-year-old lady, who works as a PA and also did not want to reveal her name, said: “Actually, I only live down the road and I do get deliveries, but probably only once a week. But I know on all the Nextdoor apps, everyone is saying they aren’t getting deliveries.

“It’s affecting people a bit further out, maybe Orpington. But since I’m just down the road, I’ve been ok. It’s terrible, Royal Mail is in a real state. It’s all the strikes, and I believe the issue here is they’ve not got enough staff.”

Byron Williams, 65, lives in Orpington. The former warehouse worker said: “At the moment, I used to get three deliveries a week, but now I’m only getting about two. I don’t know what’s going on, I haven’t seen my regular postman, I don’t know if he’s left.

“Someone else is doing the rounds now and they’re not very good. They’re dropping my letters next door. I’m 4a, so sometimes people put the number four on the letter, and my regular postman would know. But this postman is not looking. Obviously, they get to know certain people. But for now my neighbour has to keep dropping letters to my house.”

Others are experiencing different problems. Barbara Scottow, 76, who used to work as a computer programmer, said: “Our postman has been off for five weeks, now we get relief. He’s got a bad back, apparently.”

Her friend Jaqueline Bass, 82, who was a comptometer operator for air conditioned rooms in the 1960s, added: “I don’t get post on Saturdays, never.”

Another woman, who wished not to be named, said: “I do have problems sometimes with parcels. I have to pick them up from here, my father’s deaf so he can’t hear.

“Other times, if I’m out, they knock on the door and leave parcels all over the place. They used to leave them with neighbours, but now even when you’re in bed they sometimes dump it on doorstep and run off. Ever since Covid they don’t want to hang around.”

A member of Royal Mail staff at the office who briefly spoke to MyLondon after leaving the building on Wednesday afternoon (May, 24) said: “It’s better than it was. I’m not going to say anything.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are sorry to any customers who have not received the high standards they expect. The Bromley area has recently experienced high levels of sick absence, which has negatively impacted the quality of service we have been able to offer.

“A dedicated plan to improve the Bromley area’s service quality is already underway. This has reduced absence levels by more than half, with all current sick absences covered through temporary recruitment.

“Improving quality of service is our top priority. We are committed to restoring service levels at our offices in Bromley and Catford to where our customers expect them to be, this applies to our offices across Royal Mail. With the plans we have in place to drive service levels and reduce absence, we hope and expect to see further progress in the coming months.”

Is there an issue in your area of London that needs reporting? Email adam.toms@reachplc.com.

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