The national delivery service said anyone living there could not be guaranteed deliveries of parcels or letters on six days a week
Royal Mail has today released an update concerning 117 postcodes currently experiencing significant disruption. The national courier service has warned residents within these areas that they cannot guarantee the delivery of parcels or letters six days a week.
This extensive disruption implies that timely deliveries in preparation for Christmas cannot be assured. The most recent list reveals 117 postcodes are grappling with these issues.
These complications have arisen despite Royal Mail’s recruitment of approximately 20,000 additional staff to assist with the transportation, sorting and delivery of mail during the bustling festive period.
In a statement, Royal Mail said: “We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week. In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors. In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers. We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive.”
We’re sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. ” This follows last month’s admission that less than three quarters of first class mail was delivered on time over recent months.
The delivery giant reported that between June 20 and September 28, only 73.4% of first class post was delivered the next working day. It was also disclosed that 90.4% of second class mail was delivered within three working days.
The most recent quality of service report indicates a downward trend in performance since the annual results were published.
Royal Mail was slapped with a £21 million fine by regulator Ofcom for failing to meet its mail delivery targets for the 2024-25 financial year.
Over the course of the year, it managed to deliver 77% of first class mail and 92.5% of second class mail punctually.
This fell short of its respective targets of 93% and 98.5%. Royal Mail has stated that it is taking measures to enhance the dependability of its services, including recruiting additional staff and bolstering its delivery offices.
It is also gearing up to implement changes that will result in the discontinuation of second class deliveries on Saturdays, instead shifting the service to alternate weekdays.
Pilot schemes for this new delivery model have been underway, with plans to continue its rollout from early next year.Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail’s chief operating officer, commented: “Reliable deliveries really matter to our customers, and they matter to us too.
“We’re taking targeted action to improve performance – recruiting more frontline staff, simplifying operations and investing in a new delivery model, with early pilots already showing measurable results.”
He further noted that their team was “working hard to make sure every item arrives on time and with care”.
Full list of postcodes hit by delays
- Aboyne SUDO (AB34)
- Altens DO (AB10, AB11, AB12 and AB35)
- Ashington DO (NE22, NE62, NE63 and NE64)
- Barry DO (CF62 and CF63)
- Belfast West DO (BT10, BT11, BT12 and BT17)
- Bingham DO (NG12 and NG13)
- Bristol East DO (BS5)
- Brixton DO (SW2)
- Callington DO (PL17 and PL18)
- Canvey Island DO (SS8)
- Clevedon DO (BS21 and BS49)
- Dundee East DO (DD4, DD5 and DD7)
- Dunstable DO (LU5 and LU6)
- Dursley DO (GL11, GL12 and GL13)
- Dyce DO (AB21)
- Egremont DO (CA21, CA22, CA23, CA24, CA25 and CA27)
- Erskine DO (PA7 and PA8)
- Glasgow G52 DO (G52 and G53)
- Glenrothes DO (KY6 and KY7)
- Gloucester North DO (GL3 and GL4)
- Inverclyde DO (PA14, PA15, PA16, PA17, PA18 and PA19)
- Johnstone DO (PA5, PA6, PA9, PA10 and PA12)
- Kettering DO (NN14, NN15 and NN16) 60
- Kingswood DO (BS15 and BS30)
- Lichfield DO (WS7, WS13 and WS14)
- Lisburn DO (BT26, BT27 and BT28)
- Londonderry DO (BT47 and BT48)
- Medway Valley DO (ME6, ME18, ME19 and ME20)
- Northfield DO (B31)
- Northwich DO (CW8 and CW9)
- Nottingham South DO (NG2 and NG12)
- Paisley DO (PA1, PA2 and PA3)
- Plympton DO (PL7)
- Pontefract DO (WF7, WF8, WF9 and WF11)
- Renfrew DO (PA4)
- Seaham DO (SR7)
- Sleaford DO (NG34)
- St Helens DO (WA9, WA10 and WA11)
- Stalybridge SUDO (SK15)
- Thornbury DO (BS35)
- Tipton DO (DY4)
- Warrington DO (WA1, WA2, WA4, WA5 and WA55)
- Wellington DO (TA21)
- Westhill DO (AB13, AB14 and AB32)
- Whitehaven DO (CA18, CA19, CA20, CA26 and CA28)
- Whitwood DO (WF6 and WF10)
- Wigan DO (WN1, WN2, WN3, WN4, WN5 and WN6) 57
