County Durham Evri staff say parcels will not arrive by Christmas

Parcels have been stacked outside near cars

Thousands of parcels stuck at Evri depots in County Durham will not be delivered in time for Christmas, workers have claimed.

Couriers working at two depots have said lots of families will be left "disappointed and upset" as the firm struggles to get through huge backlogs.

It comes after the BBC found parcels - including clothes and electronics - left in large piles outside one depot.

Evri said it remained confident all deliveries would be made in time.

'Like a car boot sale'

Workers have said tens of thousands of parcels remained in cages at depots in the region - some dated from just under a month ago.

They said Evri was failing to retain couriers amid high pressure, poor working conditions and abuse from frustrated customers.

One courier, who asked to remain anonymous, said the County Durham depots were unable to cope with the volume of parcels arriving each day.

"Everybody you ask will say it's a mess, it's like a car boot sale on a morning," they said.

"There's parcels that have been left overnight."

Parcels are stacked on the floor when loading into cars

According to workers, labels on parcels had been lost or damaged after being stored outside, resulting in failed deliveries.

"They brought in two 40ft trucks and took [the unidentified parcels] away, where they get re-sorted, repackaged," said the worker.

"And if it can't be [identified], it goes to auction or the bin.

"They arrived on Wednesday morning and the managers were saying the depot isn't big enough - and everybody knows it."

• Piles of parcels being sorted outside Evri depot

Last week the BBC witnessed goods being sorted outside - in the car park of one of the main depots - as delivery drivers manoeuvred through.

At the time, Evri said that while the situation was "not ideal", it was a "temporary arrangement".

But workers claimed parcels were being run over by vehicles on a daily basis, while they said their health and safety was being put at risk as cars "weaved" in and out of workers and goods.

Staff shortages

Earlier this year, a number of smaller Evri depots in north-east England were closed, with some workers expected to travel further to maintain work.

But workers said Evri had "put all their eggs in one basket" in an attempt to save money, which had put off workers from travelling to the new location.

They said this had further contributed to staff shortages.

Parcels are stored in metal cages and loaded into cars

As a result, they said, they had been expected to take on work for other areas, sometimes leaving whole towns and villages without deliveries for weeks.

The worker said: "They just can't get the drivers - they've been bringing in taxis."

Couriers were left under pressure to return to the depot after completing two or three runs in order to help clear the backlog, it was claimed.

"What I am delivering in my car, you could get in a seven-tonne truck, it's a lot of stress and pain," another worker said.

They added that many new starters could not cope with the pressure.

'Top priority'

Evri apologised to those still waiting for parcels, but said it was experiencing a "higher than normal" volume, partly driven by the Royal Mail strikes and "final-mile" staffing shortages in some areas.

It said the treatment and wellbeing of its workers remained a "top priority", said its sites were subject to rigorous health and safety audits and that all couriers were paid above the National Living Wage.

It added that while it did not "claim to be perfect" it was aware of "individual issues" that it needed to improve and was determined to do so.

In addition, it said the use of taxi drivers was common practice in the industry and parcels were being sorted outside for about an hour a day, with provisions in place for bad weather.

It also said parcels with problem labels were dealt with either the local depot team or specialist teams.

It said goods were only sent to auction "when every other avenue has been exhausted".