Royal Mail blames wind for failing to deliver in West Fife

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WEST Fife has one of the worst performance standards in Scotland for meeting Royal Mail delivery targets.

This is confirmed in a new report but will not come as any surprise locally following the chaos at the Dunfermline sorting office last winter.

Volcanic ash and severe winds are being blamed for the poor figures rather than the introduction of a new system of deliveries in Dunfermline and Dundee, where the figure was even worse.

The Kirkcaldy postcode, which covers West Fife, has a figure of 88.3 per cent for first class mail delivered the next day in the first quarter of 2011/12 - down from 89.2 per cent last year.

Only Dundee (87.1 per cent) - also hit by disruption last winter following the introduction of new work practices - and the far-flung Hebrides (58.3 per cent) and Lerwick (47.3 per cent) have a worse record. The Scottish average was 91.4 per cent and the target is 93 per cent.

Paul Kelly, Royal Mail's regional operations director, said, "During the spring quarter, 91.4 per cent of First Class stamped and franked mail was delivered the next working day after posting against a target of 93.0 per cent.

"A total of 98.4 per cent of Second Class stamped and franked mail was delivered within three working days after posting, a 0.1 percentage point below the 98.5 per cent target.

"Disruption to air services caused by ash from an Icelandic volcanic eruption for several days in May had some adverse impact on First Class mail which travels overnight by air.

"In Scotland, this disruption to air services was more severe because of greater reliance on air transport.

"In addition, during the same period services in central Scotland and particularly the Dundee and Fife areas (DD and KY) suffered additional problems.

"This was due to severe winds which disrupted a number of major arterial routes and involved road and bridge closures, including the Forth Bridge and M9."

The best figures in Scotland were in Inverness (93.7 per cent) and Aberdeen (92.7 per cent).

The festive season disruption in Dunfermline lasted well into January with deliveries hampered by snow and ice.

Postal workers said the situation was made much worse by the changes to deliveries but this was denied by Royal Mail. Instead, they blamed Fife Council for failing to keep roads and pavements clear.

Dunfermline MP Thomas Docherty said he found the wind theory "baffling" but hoped to visit the Woodmill Road sorting office in the near future.

"I had a meeting with Royal Mail recently which was quite positive but I want to visit the Dunfermline office to speak to the workers and see how things are now," said the MP.

"We all know that Fife Council has the responsibility of keeping the streets clear but Royal Mail also has to have a contingency plan for conditions like last winter.

"There is also a year-round problem of businesses, such as legal firms, complaining about the late delivery of mail.

"Many businesses have raised this with me and if any others want to do so I'll take it up with Royal Mail."

[DGP1]

I thought this was going to be about posties curry problems