Royal Mail responds to complaint over ‘reduced deliveries’ in Mablethorpe

A Mablethorpe resident contacted the Leader yesterday, claiming: “As of today, there has not been a postman in the Golf Road/Jacklin Crescent area for the past three days. The same was happening last week. Three weeks ago our mail was delivered to an incorrect address, and put in our letterbox on a Sunday morning.

“There are a lot of older people who live alone in this area, who desperately need this service, not everyone is on the internet.

“I know for a fact that Christmas cards have been posted to me a week ago. I am yet to receive them.

“While being appreciative of these difficult times. Surely there are enough unemployed who would be glad of some temporary work, as is normal at this time of year.”

The Leader contacted the Royal Mail for comment this morning.

A Royal Mail spokesperson replied: “The majority of the Royal Mail network is running as usual in line with this seasonal peak in demand.

“We anticipate that we will deliver more UK parcels in these three and a half weeks than some of our competitors typically handle in an entire year.

“We continue to focus on delivering all Christmas mail as quickly and as reliably as we can.”

The spokesperson continued: “Ahead of the Christmas peak we hired around 33,000 temporary workers to support our 115,000 permanent postmen and women.

“Temporary staff, many of whom return year after year, are helping to sort parcels, cards and letters at sites across the UK.

“For the past ten years, Royal Mail has opened a network of temporary parcel sort centres to handle additional Christmas volumes.

“This year, Royal Mail expanded its portfolio of seasonal sites to help manage the anticipated growth in parcel volumes.

“Eight centres have been opened, including two additional sites in Northampton and Milton Keynes.

“We also launched a campaign to remind our customers to shop early and post early for Christmas.

“The combination of greatly increased uptake of online Christmas shopping, in no small part driven by the recent lockdown, and the ongoing Covid restrictions mean that all delivery companies are experiencing exceptionally high volumes this year.”

The spokesperson concluded: “Throughout the pandemic, every decision we make puts the health of our people and customers first.

“From the start, we have always said that despite our best endeavours, it is possible that some areas of the country may experience a reduction in service levels due to Covid-related absences and necessary social distancing measures at local mail centres and delivery offices.

“Every single parcel, letter and card is important to us.

“We remain grateful to all our customers for their patience and understanding as our dedicated workforce work hard to deliver these exceptional volumes, whilst also adhering to necessary social distancing measures.”