Royal Mail have been slammed for “very poor and erratic” postal services, after a Southend resident claimed he waited nearly a month for important letters to be delivered to his home address.
David Smith claimed three pieces of post all arrived on July 17 – a Lloyds Bank letter dated June 2026, another dated June 21 that was 26 days late, and a charity document posted on June 27 that was 20 days late.
Mr Smith first raised the issue in an email on June 8 with Blair McDougall, Labour MP for East Renfrewshire and then Post Office Minister.
His first raised concerns when bank documents dated May 25, failed to arrive.
After going to Southend’s Short Street delivery office on June 5, he was handed five pieces of mail, including two letters from his bank. GeographicReference
“Neither I nor any other member of the public should have to do that,” he wrote.
“This is clearly a management issue and must be investigated and permanently resolved by your own actions with the Post Office without further delay.”
Almost six weeks later and still without a reply, Mr Smith emailed Mr McDougall again on July 17 to express the “very poor and erratic Royal Mail postal deliveries”.
Royal Mail’s website states first class post aims to arrive the next working day, while second class takes two to three working days.
In a statement, Royal Mail said: “We are sorry to hear about the concerns raised by this resident. Mail continues to be delivered across Southend.
“At times, individual routes may be affected by short-term local issues such as sickness and absence, and where this happens our teams work to clear any outstanding mail as quickly as possible.
“Nationally, more than 92 per cent of all letters arrive on time and over 99 per cent arrive within a week. Improving reliability remains our priority.”
St Laurence ward Reform UK councillor Frankie Bird said residents across the city were reporting similar problems.
“Residents are telling me the same thing over and over – no post for weeks, then a bundle all at once and by the time it arrives the deadline has gone,” he said.
“One resident collected a hospital appointment letter on the evening of the day it was due, putting them back to the end of a waiting list through no fault of their own.”
Mr McDougall was contacted for comment.
