Royal Mail has come under fire after a UK town reported receiving almost no mail deliveries, prompting an MP to raise the issue in Parliament.
Chichester MP Jess Brown-Fuller highlighted the "simply unacceptable" situation in a Westminster Hall debate, after Selsey residents were reportedly being forced to collect post from a sorting office with limited opening hours.
MP calls for action
Ms Brown-Fuller said: "Royal Mail need to turn their communication with MPs into actual action, so our residents can see the changes that we're asking for."
She told the debate she had written to Royal Mail about the problem, and while the company said it was prioritising medical letters and using a rotation system to manage the disruption, she said this was "not evidenced on the ground."
After the debate, she described the ongoing disruption as "simply unacceptable," The Argus reports.
Impact on vulnerable residents
Ms Brown-Fuller said: "This is particularly unfair on the elderly and more vulnerable in the community, especially given that reports on the ground are still suggesting that even important medical letters are still not getting through to households.
"I will continue to push Royal Mail to improve their standards and deliver the service that our local communities deserve."
Union warning
The complaint comes shortly after the Communication Workers Union warned that Royal Mail could soon collapse. It claimed that around 400 delivery staff are leaving the company every week ahead of the busy Christmas period.
A new model aimed at improving delivery services has reorganised routes, and has been rolled out in about 1,000 out of 1,200 delivery offices. Second class post is allowed to be delivered only every other weekday, and first class letters and parcels six days a week.
The CWU has asked its members to avoid the new system until a proposal is accepted to solve problems in hundreds of offices. Its general secretary, Dave Ward, said: "We are calling for a summit between stakeholders and the Government to address the ticking timebomb that is Royal Mail.
"Royal Mail has been in structural decline for well over a decade, and the continuous failure to deliver quality of service is killing the brand, demoralising the workforce, and letting down the communities that postal workers are proud to serve. At this stage, it doesn't matter what delivery model is adopted: unless the company faces up to its self-inflicted recruitment and retention crisis, the company is on the brink of collapse."
