Royal Mail blasted after Northwich post deliveries dry up

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.northwichguardian.co.uk/new ... eries-dry/

A MOULTON woman described Royal Mail’s delivery service as ‘laughable’ after a parcel was left on her doorstep with three weeks worth of letters strapped to it with an elastic band.

Leah Zentek claims Royal Mail's letter deliveries in the village, as well as in Davenham, Lostock Gralam, and Kingsmead, have all but ground to a halt in recent months.

She says residents expecting important letters have to travel to the sorting office in Northwich and queue to have any chance of receiving them in time.

“I haven’t actually seen a postman in the village for three weeks,” she said.

Outgoing mail is no better, according to Leah, who posted three items on Tuesday, December 2; two first class and one second class.

The second class item arrived on December 14, but the first class ones are yet to resurface.

Other residents have come forward with other serious issues, like one not receiving conveyancing documents mid house sale, and another not getting a letter confirming the date of a major operation in January until she went and collected it herself.

A view shared by many residents is understaffing is to blame, leading to Royal Mail prioritising parcel delivery over letters, which could explain the strange bundle left on Leah's doorstep.

MP for Mid Cheshire, Andrew Cooper, wrote to Royal Mail on Monday, December 15, expressing concerns about the dire state of letter deliveries in Northwich at the moment.

Mr Cooper stressed he is not criticising 'hard-working postal workers', but is concerned about 'organisation, staffing levels, and prioritisation decisions'.

In a statement, Mr Cooper confirmed he is visiting the Northwich delivery office on Friday, December 19, for a pre-arranged visit to thank postal workers for their hard work.

However, due to the volume of messages he has received from constituents on this issue, he will be raising the question with management while he is there.

He said: “Over the past few weeks I’ve received a very large number of messages from residents across Mid Cheshire about late and missed postal deliveries, including people missing hospital appointments and important correspondence.

“I will continue to push for answers and will update residents once I receive a response.”

The Guardian contacted Royal Mail which said deliveries are continuing in the area, but it is a ‘busy time of year’.

Its spokesperson said: “We know how important letters and parcels are in the run-up to Christmas, and while this is a very busy period, the overwhelming majority are delivered on time.

“Where a route is affected, our teams work to resolve any delays as quickly as possible.

“Last year, 99 per cent of items posted by the last recommended posting dates were delivered in time for Christmas, and our teams are focused on maintaining that level of service again this year.”

Asked what she thinks of Royal Mail's response, Leah said: "It’s absolutely laughable.

“There are people in Moulton who have not had any post for three weeks.

“We’re having to go to the sorting office in Northwich and stand in line to get our own post.

"That is, those of us who can.

"People are missing hospital appointment because they don’t know about them.

“A neighbour was told at the sorting office they are prioritising parcels over letters as they don’t have enough staff to do both.

“This makes sense because we got a parcel dumped on our doorstep on Saturday with three weeks of post elastic banded to it."