Royal Mail has issued a warning about delivery delays affecting 141 UK postcode areas as of Wednesday, July 22. The impacted Merseyside locations include New Ferry, Prenton, Upton, Neston, St Helens, and others.
Royal Mail statement on delays
Royal Mail said: "We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week. In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors."
"In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers. We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive. We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding."
Network performance and fine
During the past 24 hours, Royal Mail's air and road networks have run according to schedule. All mail centres have confirmed that post was processed and sent out on time. Last year, Royal Mail received a £21 million fine from Ofcom for missing delivery targets after delivering only 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail punctually in 2024 to 2025.
Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail's chief operating officer, said: "We're putting significant investment into improving reliability and reaching these new delivery targets, but delivering lasting change across a network of this scale takes time. Universal Service reform is a key part of that, helping us adapt the network to reflect how people send and receive mail today while protecting the one-price-goes-anywhere service for the future."
"We have a plan to deploy the new delivery model to all delivery offices across the country by the Christmas peak period and have set clear targets for each quarter as changes are introduced across the network. Early performance this year shows we are tracking in line with the plan and moving in the right direction."
Full list of affected postcodes
Ashington DO (NE22, NE62-NE64), Ashton Under Lyne DO (OL5, OL6, OL7), Barry DO (CF63), Basingstoke DO (RG21-RG26, RG28), Bedford DO (MK40-MK45), Bicester DO (OX25, OX26, OX27), Brecon DO (LD3), Brierley Hill DO (DY5), Buckingham DO (MK18), Burslem DO (ST6), Calderway DO (WF12-WF14), Cambridge DO (CB1-CB5, CB21-CB25), Carmarthen DO (SA17, SA31, SA32, SA33), Carrickfergus DO (BT38), Chichester DO (PO18, PO19, PO20), Deal DO (CT14), Droylsden DO (M43), Dudley DO (DY1-DY3), Dursley DO (GL11, GL12, GL13), Flint DO (CH6, CH8), Frome DO (BA11), Gloucester North DO (GL3, GL4), Gosforth DO (NE3, NE13), Hailsham DO (BN27), Hengoed DO (CF81, CF82), Hunslet DO (LS10), Ilfracombe DO (EX34), Ilkeston DO (DE7 and DE75), Kidderminster DO (DY10-DY12, DY14), Kingswinford DO (DY6), Lichfield DO (WS7, WS13, WS14), Llangefni DO (LL62 to LL78), Llangollen SUDO (LL20), Llanrwst DO (LL24, LL25, LL26, LL27), Loughborough DO (LE11-LE12), Margate DO (CT7, CT8, CT9), Milton Keynes Kiln Farm DO (MK8, MK11 to MK14, MK19), Neston DO (CH33, CH64), New Ferry DO (CH32, CH62, CH63), Nuneaton DO (CV10, CV11, CV13), Oxford East DO (OX3, OX4, OX33, OX44, OX49), Penarth DO (CF64), Portslade DO (BN41 and BN42), Prenton DO (CH43), Shepshed DO (LE12), Shrewsbury DO (SY1-SY5), Sidmouth DO (EX10), St Helens DO (WA9-WA11), Stalybridge SUDU (SK15), Stourport On Severn DO (DY13), Sunbury On Thames DO (TW16), Tipton DO (DY4), Tiverton DO (EX16, EX18), Upton DO (CH30, CH49), Winslow SUDO (MK18), Wolverhampton NE DO (WV11, WV12), Yate DO (BS37).
