Royal Mail issues service update as four UK regions face delays

Royal Mail is committed to delivering six days a week to 32 million homes across the UK, many sending or expecting post before Christmas.

As the UK’s primary postal service, Royal Mail has taken steps to increase its capacity to move parcels and letters through national and international networks.

Recently, Royal Mail opened two state-of-the-art automated Parcel Hubs in Warrington and Daventry. However, improved infrastructure doesn’t mean it is exempt from external factors which may cause delays.

Royal Mail reported issues with some Mail Centres in its latest service update, prompting disruption in certain postcodes.

All 10 postcodes are located in England, in four regions: Chester, Peterborough, Plymouth, and the South Midlands.

Mail Centres in these four areas reported that not all mail was processed or dispatched to schedule over the past 24 hours. Royal Mail warned: “As a result, some mail may be delivered later than planned.”

• Chester – mail posted yesterday elsewhere in the UK, due for delivery today in the postcode areas CH, LL and SY, may be delayed
• Peterborough – mail posted yesterday elsewhere in the UK, due for delivery today in the postcode areas CB and PE may be delayed
• Plymouth – mail posted yesterday elsewhere in the UK, due for delivery today in the PL postcode area, may be delayed
• South Midlands – mail posted yesterday elsewhere in the UK, due for delivery today in the postcode areas CV, LE, MK AND NN may be delayed
• South Midlands – mail posted from the postcode areas CV, LE, MK AND NN, due for delivery today elsewhere in the UK, may arrive later than planned

Households expecting deliveries today may be impacted by local issues, which means Royal Mail delivery offices cannot operate as scheduled.

Royal Mail says that in a small number of local offices, delivering to “all addresses [it] has mail for, six days a week” may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high sickness absence levels, resourcing, or other local factors.

In those cases, deliveries are rotated to minimise the delay for individual customers, and targeted support is given to affected delivery offices to ensure customer standards are upheld where possible.

Some areas, including Abercarn, Abingdon, Waterlooville, Woodbridge and Oxford East, have experienced disruption for several days.