Royal Mail admits that post has been delayed around Stirling

[POSTMAN]

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Apology after Royal Mail admits that post has been delayed around Stirling

The company blamed absence caused by sickness and a temporary shortage of staff for the delays.

Royal Mail this week apologised to householders in Stirling area over problems with delivery of post.

The company blamed absence caused by sickness and a temporary shortage of staff for post arriving late or, in some cases, not at all.

Royal Mail admit they have had a “minor problem” but insiders say there are now nine vacancies among posties working in Stirling area.

And they claim bosses have been slow to fill them, leading to problems with deliveries.

One source told the Observer: “There are quite a few vacancies for postmen and women across Stirling area but they are not being filled and the workforce are having to cope as best they can.

“This has led over the last two weeks with deliveries in some areas being late or not happening at all because staff who would normally carry out those deliveries are having to do other things first.

“It seems to be an issue across the Stirling area. There have been problems in the Trossachs and also in areas such as St Ninians.”

The source, who asked not to be named, claimed senior managers of the now privately-owned company were dragging their feet on filling vacancies in case it impacted on their bonus.

However, Royal Mail insist they do everything they can to get the mail out to customers. They say no-one in the company is “bonused” on not filling vacancies.

Royal Mail spokesperson, Julie Pirone: “We had some issues with mail deliveries in Stirling this week and we apologise to customers who may have been affected.

“This has been due to a temporary shortage of staff and unexpected levels of sick absence in Stirling Delivery office.

“We are committed to delivering a high quality of service to our customers.

“ We have put contingency plans in place, and will be recruiting for the three vacancies which currently exist in the office.”

She said the latest published quality of service results for the FK postcode area show that they delivered an on-target/target beating performance between April-June 2015.

“We delivered 93 per cent of first class mail on time the next working day after posting which is on target,” she added.

“Any customer who has concerns about their mail delivery should contact Royal Mail Customer Services on 03457 740 740.”

The Tory-Lib-Dem Government Britain sold off a controlling stake in Royal Mail in 2013, attracting criticism at the time that it had been not asked enough for the shares.

[DGP1]

It's not a temporary shortage of staff, there has been an embargo of new staff being recruited for 6 months here, still, I suppose if they aren't reported then nobody gets into trouble (some post has seen more of the country than I have).