THERE has been "complaint after complaint" in Malvern as residents continue to face Royal Mail postal delays.
Letters are said to be arriving weeks late, with stacks of them arriving all at once, according to MP for West Worcestershire Dame Harriett Baldwin.
Recent delivery problems
She said she has received repeated complaints from affected residents in Malvern about postal delays since EP Group took over Royal Mail's parent company International Distribution Services in April 2025.
In October 2025, Royal Mail was fined £21million for failing to meet its first and second class delivery targets in the 2024/25 financial year.
“Since the new owner of Royal Mail took over I have received complaint after complaint about the poor postal service in and around Malvern," Dame Harriett said.
"Something has clearly gone badly wrong as people are receiving important letters weeks late and dozens at a time.
"Royal Mail has already been repeatedly fined for its performance and now it is watering down its Second Class service after stamp prices went up again this year."
New delivery system
It comes as a new delivery system is being rolled out, with non-first-class letters to be delivered every other weekday, standard bulk business letters to be delivered in three days and new "reliability" targets for first and second class services.
Royal Mail said this has been rolled out to 463 delivery offices.
"I will be watching closely for the impacts and continue to raise constituents’ feedback as I lobby Royal Mail to improve," Dame Harriett said.
What has Royal Mail said?
The delivery service has claimed that more than 93 per cent of letters are being delivered on time, attributing delays largely to issues with specific items.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We take concerns about delayed mail very seriously and know how important it is that customers receive their post on time.
"Our posties are out delivering every day in Malvern.
"At times, short-term local issues can affect individual routes, and where this happens we work to resolve them as quickly as possible.
"More than 93 per cent of all letters are currently delivered on time and over 99 per cent within a week.
"Items arriving later than this are highly unusual and are more likely to indicate an issue with that particular item, rather than a wider problem affecting deliveries across an area."