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Residents of a small village five miles from Brighton have expressed anger at waiting weeks for Royal Mail deliveries. Saltdean has been described as a Royal Mail “blackspot”, with some locals waiting six weeks for letters to be delivered. While local message boards and Facebook groups try to look at the funny side, with users joking about their luck at receiving a delivery, underneath, resentment and anger at the impact of the poor service are starting to bubble over.
Local councillor Mark Earthey, 65, has long been frustrated by the declining levels of Royal Mail service, but that frustration multiplied last year when he was left waiting a month for his wife’s death certificate. He told the Telegraph: “Have you any idea how difficult it is to deal with bereavement when everyone is telling you they have sent the death certificate and you are sitting there and the weeks are going by and nothing has arrived?
“In the end, it took a month to arrive and that wasn’t because Royal Mail delivered it. It was after I went to the sorting office myself and then I saw all my post sitting there in a bundle.”
Mr Earthy says that he is lucky if he sees a postman every 10 days, as is the case with the village’s post.
He adds: “I am not having a go at the sorting office. They said they would take my name and put me on a priority list but if they don’t have a postie, they don’t have a postie.”
Royal Mail said it did not recognise stories of weeks of delays or agree that there was a backlog within the sorting office.
But the organisation’s own metrics hint at a different story: Just 72% of first-class posts arrives on time, compared to 90% in other areas.
The local postmistress blames the issues on a lack of staff.
She said: “It is quite hard because I see the posties out all the time and they are working as hard as they can, but there’s only so much they can do and there are only so many of them.
“They are doing extra hours, doing double shifts or two rounds to try to keep the community happy and receiving its post but since last summer, the complaints have increased.”
The story is told time and time again across the village. One man was forced to pay double for a parking ticket when his fine arrived after the allotted two-week grace period to pay a lower amount.
Others have missed hospital appointments because letters arrived after the given date, and others cannot claim vital benefits that can only be sent by post.
Local MP, Chris Ward describes the area as a postal desert. He said: “It’s been a constant thing we’ve picked up from constituents but it’s definitely got worse in the past six months.
“Royal Mail has a legal obligation to deliver six days a week; it’s failing massively in that, particularly in communities like this, and it’s having a real impact.
“This is materially impacting people’s lives physically and financially, whether that’s fines or missing appointments. A village that is only a 10-minute drive away from a major city centre should not be so hard to reach.”
According to public figures, in 2023-24, the postal service failed to hit its target for next-day delivery of first-class posts in every area of Britain.
So far this year, it has paid out £6m in compensation after receiving 697,015 complaints from angered members of the public.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “The vast majority of homes in Saltdean are currently receiving their deliveries six days a week as normal.
“We acknowledge there are a number of residents who have experienced a delay and for that we apologise. In these instances, we always prioritise their routes, aiming to complete their delivery the following day.
“We are working hard to further improve service and encourage any resident who has specific concerns to contact us so we can investigate.”
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