Residents urge postal bosses to tackle delays

Residents said they were fed up waiting for urgent post

Residents in parts of Cornwall experiencing delays in receiving urgent post are calling for Royal Mail to improve its delivery service and "deal with its backlog of post".

One local business owner from Port Isaac states that he recently went six days with no post and then received 18 items at once, including urgent paperwork he needed to sign.

Dennis Knight, who runs a holiday company, said: "At one point, we had a spell with no post for 13 days, then we received 26 pieces all wrapped up with rubber bands.

"The post only comes from Launceston - you could have walked there quicker."

Mr Knight added: "If you send something first class, you expect it the next day, but it's not next day now - it's next week if you're lucky.

"Give them [postal workers] a bit of overtime and get the backlog done."

'Very sporadic'

Claire Bailey, a doctor from Truro, said that her post has been "very sporadic" and she resorts to using 24 or 48-hour delivery options to receive essential items like medication and legal documents.

Dr Bailey said the Royal Mail app showed that some of her items had arrived at a Royal Mail centre but she was still waiting "two or three days for them to arrive at my house".

She was told there were several crates of "unsorted mail" at her local sorting office and staff informed her there were unfilled job vacancies.

Dr Bailey has called for a recruitment drive and added: "We are so geographically isolated and many people in Cornwall rely on couriers and post."

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "Post is being delivered to addresses in Port Isaac and Truro at least every other day.

"Our posties are working hard to ensure any delays due to resourcing challenges are kept to a minimum, and recruitment is ongoing.

"We encourage customers to reach out directly if they experience any issues and we will happily investigate."