Why has Royal Mail only delivered letters twice in three months?

I am waiting for the overdue results of a cancer test, and the postal service seems to be prioritising parcels over letters

In the three months since I moved to my village, I’ve had just two deliveries of letters.

One of them was only because I caught a passing postman on a parcel round who arranged one just for me. The bundle contained a bank card, two notifications of an overdue bill I was unaware of, a weeks-old letter from my new water company asking me to set up payments, and a letter about a routine cancer test. There has been nothing since.

I’m currently awaiting the overdue results of my NHS cancer test, all my birthday cards, and who knows what else.

According to the postman, the Bridgwater sorting office decided to stop delivering letters to my village in order to prioritise parcels.

Royal Mail has always denied prioritising parcels over letters, but the communications regulator is now investigating claims from whistleblowers and unions that it is doing just that.

In August your local MP, Ashley Fox, raised the issue in parliament after residents in his Bridgwater constituency reported severe delays to post since the start of the year.

Royal Mail tells me that it has neither suspended nor reduced deliveries to you and your neighbours, while simultaneously admitting that “resourcing pressures” prevented the completion of some rounds in September.

It also denies prioritising parcels, although it says “time-sensitive” items come first during “exceptionally busy periods”.

Additional staff and increased training and oversight have improved the service in the past month, it claims. Not that you’ve noticed. You’ve had one delivery containing two weeks’ worth of letters since I intervened.

Royal Mail says: “Our teams are working hard to deliver any outstanding mail as quickly as possible. We know there is more to do and remain focused on restoring a reliable and consistent service for customers.”

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