Penarth - Royal Mail sorting office has third of its staff off sick with fears over Christmas deliveries not arriving in time

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 12 Dec 2021, 07:59

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wale ... d-22432182

It's not known when the issue will be resolved

Royal Mail has warned of Christmas delivery delays as one sorting office has a third of its staff off sick.

Lots of people have reported delays with their post in Penarth, according to Alun Cairns, Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan.

In a social media post on Thursday, he said 12 out of 37 staff at the town's sorting office were off with sickness resulting in a "huge backlog" as Christmas approaches.

It is unknown when the issue will be sorted, but Royal Mail has apologised for any inconvenience caused.

It comes as people across the UK have reported delays and problems with their letters and parcels.

Last week, Manchester Evening News reported people in Eccles waiting two weeks for post. A week earlier, it was the same for residents in Lanarkshire, according to the Daily Record.

Mr Cairns wrote: "In the past few months I have had lots of reports about late deliveries. Royal Mail have said that Penarth Sorting Office has 12 out of 37 staff off on sickness, resulting in a huge backlog, just as they hit their busiest period.

"They could not say when it would be sorted. Please get in touch with me or the Cllrs in Dinas to see if we can support and to understand how it's affected you."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time. We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week. In the Penarth area, we are experiencing some delays to service due to high levels of sickness absence.

"We apologise to any customers who may have experienced delays to their mail. We are working hard to get our levels of service back to normal as soon as possible. Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website www.royalmail.com.”