Town's postal delays 'slowly improving,' MP says

An MP has said there is some hope for residents experiencing postal delays after he made a surprise visit to the town's sorting office.

Cameron Thomas, MP for Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, said he could "absolutely see why people are not getting their mail on time" after visiting the office on 21 October, but added that things appeared to be "slowly improving".

Residents in the town have been complaining about delays, with some saying it has taken up to three weeks for letters and parcels to arrive.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: "We know there is more to do, including in Tewkesbury. Our colleagues are working hard to provide customers with a reliable and consistent service."

Thomas described the sorting office as looking "like a beehive".

He said staff were "working their socks off" and trying to clear the "obvious backlog of mail that was piling up in boxes all around the sorting office".

Earlier this year, Royal Mail announced a new delivery model with second-class and other non-first-class letters being delivered on alternate days.

Thomas said it was "really obvious" that the transition to the new model had not worked in Tewkesbury.

"I am absolutely confident in the incredible efforts of the posties and local management, but I don't think the operating system lends itself to supporting the workforce," he said.

A new manager has been brought in, who Thomas said staff "have a lot of faith" in.

He also said that on his first visit to the sorting office there was a "queue of people almost out of the door" waiting to collect their own mail; this time it was just him and "one other lady".

"That does say to me things are slowly improving," he said.

The spokesperson said that Royal Mail "take the concerns raised about the local delivery office seriously.

"Mail continues to be delivered across the area every day, although individual routes can be affected by short-term local issues.

"Our new delivery model is designed to improve reliability, and we remain focused on ensuring customers in Tewkesbury see those improvements."

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