Shrewsbury area postal delivery service under attack
Problems with postal deliveries have worsened since the Royal Mail closed a Shropshire sorting office and moved its work to Chester, residents in an area of Shrewsbury claim.
People who live in Castlefields say letters and parcels sometimes arrive at differing times or the post fails to arrive for days on end.
And some say the delivery problems have escalated following the closure of the sorting office in Castle Foregate.
But Royal Mail bosses say the erratic deliveries are down to increased sickness amongst the delivery workforce.
The affected areas include New Park Road, Albert Street and Queen Street. Castlefields resident Gill Wall said: "Deliveries are all over the place. Different times and posties. Don't they have foot posties anymore? This week the post has been early, which makes a nice change."
Lynn Gore added: "The regular long standing postie for Castlefields was taken off this permanent round. He knew us all, looked out for the vulnerable, all post, even that which was addressed wrongly, was always delivered as he knew everybody."
Louisa Rocke said: "My neighbours get my mail and I get theirs. How difficult is it to post mail to the right numbers?"
Karen Walker added: "Sometimes we get our post at 4pm or 4.30pm.
Royal Mail spokesperson Val Bodden said: "Royal Mail apologises to customers who have been experiencing late and differing delivery times in some areas of Shrewsbury recently.
"This has been due to unusually high levels of sick absence over the past number of weeks.
"We have put contingency plans in place, which includes drafting in extra resources and employing new staff to resolve the matter as quickly as we possibly can. Our focus is to restore our service to the high standards our customers would normally receive.
"Any customer who has concerns about their mail delivery should contact Royal Mail Customer Services on 03457 740740."
