Shropshire residents 'waiting 10 days for first class post'

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https://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co ... lass-post/

Concerns have been raised after severe delays being reported in post in villages near Oswestry.

A letter has been written to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail after long delays to post in Ruyton-XI-Towns and Baschurch areas.

Local Conservative parish councillor, Tamarin Bibow wrote the letter after she heard repeated concerns over number of months.

“A fair few people have been getting in touch," said Cllr Bibow. “Local residents have been coming up to us and saying we are not getting the post on time.

“To be clear we are not targeting the regular postmen and women, it seems to be a far wider issue.”

Residents say they have received urgent letters such as hospital appointments almost a fortnight later than expected, Cllr Bibow said.

“There is a wonderful woman in the village who has received some post, it was dated on the 12th, she received it on the 22nd and the payment was due on the 23rd – she was not the only one,” she added.

“I am not the first person to hear about this, I don’t quite know how long this is going to be an issue, but it’s been a few months that it has been bubbling under the surface.

The councillor has now written a letter to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail, Alistair Cochrane, asking for answers about the situation and noting “serious concerns raised by residents".

The letter also queries whether “staffing issues are at fault” and what steps are being taken to resolve the issue.

She has also written to North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan’s office to request help over the issue.

In response to a request by the Advertizer, the Royal Mail cited issues such as sickness among staff as affecting deliveries in the area.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We know how important it is that customers receive their mail when expected, particularly important items such as medical appointments and other time-sensitive letters.

“Mail continues to be delivered across the area every day. However, at times, individual delivery routes can be affected by short-term issues such as sickness, and where this happens our teams work to clear any outstanding mail as quickly as possible.

“Our latest data shows that 87.7 per cent of First Class mail in the SY postcode area was delivered the next working day.

“We know there is more to do and remain focused on improving reliability for customers.”