Charlie Maynard (right) out with the Royal Mail in Carterton in December (Image: Charlie Maynard/Twitter)
Royal Mail is performing around 25 per cent worse than its expected target for first class deliveries in Oxfordshire, an MP has claimed.
A target of 93 per cent is set for the postal company to deliver first class mail to be received within one working day.
But in Oxfordshire, the Royal Mail is hitting just 67.2 per cent, Liberal Democrat Witney MP Charlie Maynard said.
This is below the Royal Mail's claim of delivering 76.3 per cent of first class mail within one day across the UK for the year to March 2025.
Mr Maynard said that in his Witney constituency, people are even missing medical appointments because of late postal deliveries.
He said: "We are all getting correspondence about this issue in our mailbox because it is causing so much trouble.
"The other thing that has come out so strongly in this debate is the stress, the distrust and the unfairness that the posties themselves have to live with.
"That situation causes a huge amount of unhappiness, but there seems to be no end to it in sight, which is a real problem."
The Liberal Democrat criticised the "extremely high" turnover rate of Royal Mail employees and the "harsh" work practices.
"Yet we rely on our local posties, and almost without exception they take their responsibilities extremely seriously," he said.
"I will give a particular shout out to my postie, Tony, who on Christmas eve worked way beyond his scheduled hours. He should not have had to do that and should have been paid for it."
Anneliese Dodds, the Labour MP for Oxford East, called for a stop to "unfair competition from delivery cowboys", such as companies not giving employees time to stop for a toilet break.
She said: "I have heard some appalling tales from people who are employed under really dreadful terms and conditions.
"They do not even have time to go to the toilet. They cannot eat, apart from when they are driving. They are paid a pittance. They have completely impossibly expectations placed on their shoulders.
"Ultimately, they are undercutting the Royal Mail model."
The Royal Mail was asked what is being done to improve services for Oxfordshire's householders.
A spokesman for the business said: “We know how important it is that customers receive their mail on time.
“Recent figures show around 92 per cent of letters arrive on time, but we recognise performance is not yet where it needs to be in all areas.
“Where there are local issues, these are typically caused by temporary resourcing pressures, and we focus on restoring normal service as quickly as possible.”