'I nearly missed cancer check due to late letter'

Royal Mail has started delivering second-class letters on every other weekday and not on Saturdays to help cut costs

A woman from Eastbourne said she nearly missed an urgent cancer referral as the letter was delayed in the post.

Michaele Wynn-Jones said: "I was told I would hear within 10 days... and I didn't. Fortunately my sister was a community matron and I asked her, 'what do I do?'."

Her sister told her to call the consultant's secretary and she discovered her appointment was scheduled for the next day. The letter arrived several days later.

People living in various parts of East Sussex have complained of significant delays with post being delivered, an issue acknowledged by Royal Mail and attributed to staff shortages and sickness.

Ms Wynn-Jones said it would have been "reassuring" to receive the letter before the appointment as "it detailed why I'd been referred, what they were looking for, what I needed to do now, how to prepare - well, I didn't have any of that".

'Wider organisational issues'

Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde, who has raised the issue of late postal deliveries in the House of Commons, said residents were being "let down" by the "bigger bosses at Royal Mail who have failed to sort out their organisation".

Having visited local delivery depots, the MP said staff were "pulling out all the stops to get our post to us" but were being held back by "wider organisational issues".

Alongside writing to regulator Ofcom, Mr Babarinde said he had secured a meeting with Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake to discuss the issue.

Royal Mail has apologised for the ongoing issues and admits that its service isn't "where it needs to be" in certain areas.

It said that 92% of first-class letters were delivered within two days, and that 99% of first-class letters were delivered within five days.

Ofcom-approved changes mean that, since 28 July, second-class letters are only being delivered on every other weekday and not on Saturdays.