Royal Mail risks a £1m penalty for failing 400,000 customers

ROYAL Mail faces a fine of more than £1million over delivery chaos that has seen hundreds of thousands of families suffer weeks of delays.

It confirmed yesterday that sorting and deliveries are being disrupted at 24 offices serving 38 postcode districts.

These include many areas across Scotland, London, the Home Counties, the south coast of England, Manchester and Yorkshire.

Assuming an average of around 10,000 addresses per postcode district, up to 400,000 homes and businesses are affected. Some have been suffering delays since before Christmas with customers complaining about medical results, appointment letters and even house move documents going missing. Royal Mail blames staff absences caused by the Omicron virus strain. There are also suggestions that Covid samples and results are being prioritised.

Royal Mail is required to deliver 93 per cent of first-class post within one workfor ing day of collection, and 98.5 per cent of second-class post within three working days. These rules do not apply in December and were dropped for part of the pandemic. Royal Mail was fined £1.5million missing targets in 2018 and it appears on course for further penalties.

Regulator Ofcom said: ‘We know how important a reliable postal service is to customers, and we can take action if Royal Mail fails to meet our annual targets. We have made it clear to the company that it must improve.’

A petition to Royal Mail from residents of the SE22 postal district of London said: ‘For years East Dulwich, Dulwich Village and parts of Peckham Rye have suffered with a failing postal service.

‘This has led to many suffering with lost prescriptions, lost documentation, lost banking details, fraud and stress. We just want to get our mail on time.’

Royal Mail said it was providing ‘targeted support’ to local offices and apologised to customers.

‘Suffering with lost prescriptions’