East Dulwich residents still waiting for regular postal service

A patchy postal service is leading to missed hospital appointments and increased fines and tax bills, some south Londoners say.

Residents in East Dulwich say the area has experienced irregular deliveries since the closure of a sorting office in 2018.

Local MP Helen Hayes wants Ofcom and the government to "step in and require better of Royal Mail".

Royal Mail says it has plans to improve delivery services to East Dulwich.

As well as missing medical appointment letters, James Millar says he has been forced to pay interest on a tax demand which arrived late.

James Millar branded Royal Mail's response "cobblers"

He said: "This is not about one day's shortage of staff. They [Royal Mail] told me back in August that it was a temporary problem and here we are now knocking on for November and it's just not improved.

"The really annoying thing is the attitude because they just don't seem to care. It's the 21st century.

"Surely we're capable of delivering the mail as regularly as they are supposed to in this day and age in London, one of the most advanced cities in the world."

The delays, which primarily affect the SE22 postcode and parts of SE27, started following the closure of the Silvester Road delivery office in 2018, according to residents and politicians.

East Dulwich's delivery office has been converted into housing

Speaking outside the site Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, told the BBC she had warned Royal Mail its closure would cause problems.

She said: "The consistent problem that I've experienced over many years with Royal Mail is that they never fully acknowledge the extent of the problem, and particularly the kind of length of time over which they have had a problem.

"I know from my constituents that they're not receiving post on some streets, certainly for days, sometimes for weeks at a time.

"It's very hard to get Royal Mail to acknowledge the extent of the problem, even harder to understand what they're doing to try to fix it."

Helen Hayes MP wants Ofcom and the government to "step in and require better of Royal Mail"

Tina Thorpe also feels Royal Mail's service is far from first class. As well as subscriptions and birthday cards arriving late, she also misses out on crucial communications.

She said: "I have multiple medical problems and hospital letters not getting here and I've tried explaining to the hospital but obviously they cover a large area so they don't take into account that SE22 has huge problems and we don't always know that we've got an appointment.

"I didn't get my bank card that was sent to me in August and I had to get my bank to cancel that.

"I've asked repeatedly for them [Royal Mail] to indicate what steps they've done to rectify the chronic situation and they've never come back to me. It's frustrating."

Tina Thorpe has been keeping a post record for the past year

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

"We have plans in place and dedicated teams responsible for improving deliveries in East Dulwich and at our delivery offices nationwide."

James Millar remains unconvinced: "I have no confidence whatsoever that the quality of service is going to improve because that is the same cobblers they've been pumping out for the last three months."

Do you live in London and are you also waiting weeks for the post? Send your story to [e-mail].

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