Royal Mail told to 'get a grip' on postal delays

Postal delays in a Warwickshire neighbourhood are leaving residents without vital letters, causing missed hospital appointments, unpaid fines and undelivered birthday cards, locals say.

Martin Saxby, from the Brownsover area of Rugby, began investigating after noticing post was repeatedly failing to arrive at his home, including birthday cards for his wife.

After speaking to neighbours he discovered the issue was affecting households across the community, with some reporting a three-week delay in postal services.

Royal Mail apologised for staffing challenges in Rugby which it said had affected some local delivery routes.

Saxby said the only post being delivered on time was that tracked by Royal Mail, with all other material that went through the system facing significant delays.

"We all know the delivery of second class mail is being reduced," he said, "but no-one told us it was going to take three weeks for a letter to be delivered.

"We're not getting the service that we should be provided with by law."

Rugby MP John Slinger raised the issue in Parliament after receiving a number of complaints from residents.

He said: "Time and time again constituents come to me saying their post hasn't been delivered for weeks, and then it all turns up in a bulk delivery – this is not normal practice.

"I'm calling on Royal Mail to take our concerns seriously and get a grip of the situation in Rugby."

Saxby said he had visited every house in his street to see whether neighbours were experiencing the same issues and found some people had missed important letters due to the delays.

He had to go to a sorting office to collect his wife's birthday cards after she did not receive any in the post, he said.

He told the BBC: "People have missed hospital appointments. People who have been fined for parking have missed the deadline to pay their fines. So there's a financial implication and there's a health implication."

Brenda Carrie, who lives on the same road as Saxby, said she had nearly missed a hospital appointment because a letter had not arrived in time.

She added: "Luckily I've got the NHS app, but had I not had the app, I would have missed [the appointment]."

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We know how important it is that customers receive their mail when expected.

"Our latest results show that quality of service is improving. In the CV postcode area, which covers Rugby, 82.3% of First Class mail was delivered on time, an improvement of 13.1% on the previous quarter.

"We know there is more to do to reach our targets. We are investing £500m over five years and making significant changes across our network, including rolling out a new delivery model designed to provide a more reliable and consistent service for customers."

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