Braintree woman 'heartbroken' over late Royal Mail deliveries

Jane Halford-Hoy said she had missed birthday cards and hospital appointments in the post because her letters had arrived too late

A woman said she was left "heartbroken" at missing important mail because it was not being delivered on time.

Jane Halford-Hoy, of Braintree, Essex, said she had received birthday cards late and even missed a hospital appointment due to "sporadic" deliveries over the past year.

Other residents across Essex have also reported late deliveries.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We are committed to restoring our quality of service to our customers."

Ms Halford-Hoy said: "It's been awful for the last year. It's been really sporadic - it's hit and miss.

"On 2 October I had one letter, then on 9 October I had 25 letters; on 16 November I had 32 letters, couple of missed appointments and really late birthday cards.

"And then to top it all, 20 November, I got 15 letters and one of them wasn't even a whole letter... [it] was half a letter."

Royal Mail said it hoped to restore "our quality of service to our customers"

That was a belated birthday card from her great aunt, which arrived in a damaged bag.

"I missed a hospital appointment because the letter had arrived late, and then the heart-breaking thing, like birthday cards," she said.

She said her grandson's first birthday was on 8 November but a card, posted by her friend in Ipswich on 30 October, did not arrive until 20 November.

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She said she would like the postal service restored to "its previous glory" and that her neighbours often had to queue "for a long time in all weathers" to collect mail from the post office instead of waiting for it to be delivered.

"I hope will receive our Christmas cards on time," she said.

A Royal Mail spokesperson added: "We have plans in place and dedicated teams responsible for improving deliveries in Essex and at our delivery offices nationwide.

"Since summer we have recruited more than 7,000 postmen and women and are continuing to recruit c.500 permanent positions a week in delivery. 

"In the lead up to Christmas, we are taking on 16,000 temporary workers, more vehicles and additional parcel-sorting sites to handle double the normal volume of parcels we expect over the period."