Royal Mail has said it “takes claims of abuse very seriously” after postmen and women in Helston spoke of receiving threats and abuse while on shift.
The comments were shared by West Cornwall's MP Andrew George after a visit to Helston sorting office on Monday.
Mr George said he had been left “shocked” by what he was told, hailing the “heroic” efforts of the staff on the ground, who he said were working in “dreadful and stressful circumstances”.
He added that they “should be praised rather than criticised by local customers,” after learning of the day-to-day challenges that posties on the ground face.
This included stories of some delivery staff being “abused and threatened” by customers locally when they have been out delivering mail and parcels, with Mr George also claiming that the team – who are currently 11 members of staff down – had been “failed” by remote senior managers.
In response, Royal Mail said the wellbeing of staff was its "highest priority".
It also recognised the frustration of customers and said it was supporting posties with “higher-than-usual parcel volumes.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson told the Packet: “We take claims of abuse against our posties very seriously; the wellbeing of our colleagues is our highest priority and we will always take the necessary steps to ensure their safety at work.”
They went on to add: “We understand how frustrating it is when post does not arrive as expected and we want to reassure customers that the vast majority of mail is delivered as planned.
“We are supporting colleagues at Helston delivery office with additional posties, given the higher-than-usual parcel volumes following the closure of another firm’s local depot.”
Mr George’s visit to the sorting office followed a letter sent to Royal Mail chief Alistair Cochrane in February, highlighting that the Helston and Lizard’s TR12 and TR13 postcodes are “among the worst in the country for delivery failures”.
In the letter, dated February 16, Mr George outlined a continuing pattern of late deliveries affecting constituents, including missed medical appointments, fines for unavoidable late payments, and disruption to local businesses.
Following Monday’s visit, Mr George said: “Our postal delivery staff are working heroically in spite of dreadful and stressful circumstances, because remote senior managers have failed to give them the support and fellow members of staff they desperately need to maintain service standards, and to cope with the enormous challenges that they have faced including since Storm Goretti.
“My impression is that local sorting offices have been disempowered by an overcentralised and top-heavy management system which seeks to micromanage the service from remote offices which don’t understand the local circumstances in which frontline staff are operating.
“The Helston office has eight staff on sick leave and three on maternity leave, but have not been given sufficient back-up to deal with the inevitability that staff levels will ebb and flow because of the inevitability of circumstances like this.”
Mr George met with frontline staff, managers and trade union representatives during his visit to the sorting office, where he witnessed the sheer volume of outgoing mail to deliver across Helston and surrounding areas.
Mr George has tabled a Parliamentary Motion to highlight the ongoing crisis in Royal Mail deliveries across the country.