Royal Mail worst towns for first class post delivery delays revealed

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https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/royal-ma ... t-37198750

The worst areas for Royal Mail first class post delays have been revealed.

Royal Mail has a target to deliver 90% of first class post the next working day, but it is failing to meet this in all 124 postcode areas across the UK.

The hardest-hit places all have a service level of less than 70% - with Paisley near Glasgow coming bottom of the table with just 62.7% of first class post delivered on time.

Other badly affected regions include Blackburn and Burnley, Hull, Teesside, Stockport, Oxford, Ilford, Croydon, Newport and Maidstone.

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It comes despite the price of a first class stamp rising to £1.80 last month - a huge jump from the 64p it cost in 2016.

Royal Mail was fined a record £21million by Ofcom in October for missing targets after it delivered just 77% of first class post and 92.5% of second class post on time in 2024-25.

The delivery target for second class mail is 95%. The delivery targets used to be 93% for first class mail and 98.5% for second class, but these were reduced this April by Ofcom.

Royal Mail has pledged to meet its new postal delivery targets by May next year as part of a £500million investment after agreeing to scrap second class post on Saturdays and only deliver it every other weekday.

The group launched the changes across 35 delivery offices as a pilot, with a nationwide rollout expected to begin this month.

Royal Mail said the changes and planned investment will see it improve first class next-day delivery to around 85% within nine months of the reforms being brought in, before reaching the 90% target within a year.

The firm also vowed to deliver 93% of second-class letters in three days within the space of nine months, and hit the 95% target by May next year.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know we haven’t always met the standards our customers expect – and we’re fixing that.

“Over the past year, more than 92% of letters were delivered on time, and we’re making significant investments to improve reliability.

“Last year Ofcom agreed to structural reform of the Universal Service and we have a plan to deploy the changes across the UK by the end of this year.

“Moving ahead with reform will make a real difference to Royal Mail’s quality of service, supporting the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable postal service for our customers across the UK.”

Worst areas for Royal Mail first class post delays
List of areas plus the percentage of Royal Mail first class post that was delivered on time last year.

Paisley - 62.7%
Blackburn and Burnley - 65.8%
Hull - 66.3%
Teesside - 66.5%
Stockport - 67%
Oxford - 67.2%
Ilford - 67.4%
Croydon - 67.4%
Newport - 67.5%
Maidstone - 67.5%