Royal Mail releases list of areas affected by postal delays

The Royal Mail has revealed that some areas have been experiencing delays in postal services due to coronavirus complications.

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Why is the post taking longer to deliver?

The service revealed that some workers have been off sick or self-isolating in the midst of the pandemic, meaning that postal services have slowed down in 28 areas.

Postal services have been experiencing strains ever since the Christmas period with hoards of people resorting to online shopping for their Christmas gifts. Not to mention Boxing Day and New Years sales.

The Royal Mail recently released a statement on the issue, admitting that customers may have to accept that their parcel will take longer to arrive:

Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resource, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards.

The mail service went on to explain that the health and safety of their workers and customers has to take priority:

This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices to keep our people and customers safe.

Vaccination invitations caught up in the post

While most of us are probably thinking that waiting another few days for our deals isn’t the end of the world, Labour MP Wes Streeting has pointed out that many COVID-19 vaccination invitations have sent via post. The politician inquired over Twitter:

More than half a million letters inviting people to be vaccinated will be sent in the coming days. @RoyalMail delays have been so bad - because covid is knocking out staff - that I am worried about them arriving. Is there a way to prioritise these letters, @nadhimzahawi?

Wes, We will make sure we work with @RoyalMail to ensure this happens.
— Nadhim Zahawi (@nadhimzahawi) January 10, 2021

Fortunately Nadhim Zahawi, the Under-Secretary of State in charge of the coronavirus vaccination deployment has confirmed that he is working with Royal Mail in order to make sure that vaccination invitations are prioritised.

What areas are affected by postal delays?

The Royal Mail released a statement informing that 28 areas are expected to be seeing delays in postal delivery including 27 in England and one in Northern Ireland.

Full list of areas expecting postal delays: