Royal Mail hires 33,000 extra staff for seasonal rush

ROYAL Mail has taken on more than 33,000 extra staff over Christmas to deal with the added pressure of festive deliveries.

And it has moved to reassure customers here after it suspended deliveries to mainland Europe amid transport restrictions due to the mutant coronavirus strain.

Royal Mail said it was also experiencing delays to Canada and Turkey. Deliveries to the Irish Republic are unaffected.

After concerns from customers in Britain, it also said postage over the Irish Sea remains unaffected.

Royal Mail said: “We want to reassure our customers that thanks to the extraordinary dedication of all our people, the support of the 33,000 extra temporary staff we have taken on, and the significant extra investment we have made in our network, we are in a good position to deliver items posted before the last recommended posting dates in time for Christmas.

“The introduction of new coronavirus rules on December 19 mean that we are expecting even higher volumes of mail over the next few days, particularly in areas impacted by the toughest restrictions.

“We anticipate we will deliver more UK parcels in these threeand-a-half weeks than some of our competitors typically handle in an entire year.

“Every single parcel, letter and card is important to us. Our amazing postmen and postwomen, who have kept the UK connected throughout the pandemic and two lockdowns, are doing everything necessary to get letters and parcels to everyone ahead of Christmas.”