Luton woman sends letter to herself after Royal Mail delays

A woman sent a letter to herself to highlight the postal delays that had affected her area.

Rachel Burns, from Wigmore in Luton, said she sent a first class letter on 4 April and received it on 15 April.

The 57-year-old said residents had one delivery in March and three deliveries so far in April.

A Royal Mail spokesperson responded: “Due to resourcing challenges, deliveries were impacted in March but have since improved. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Ms Burns said some people had missed hospital appointments due to delays.

“It’s not good, especially when you pay all that money and it does not arrive.”

Fellow Wigmore resident Jo Bottrill, 54, said she and residents had experienced slower postal deliveries since last summer.

She said the £1.70 cost of first class stamps was “extortionate”.

Neil Kidwell from the Communication Workers Union said: “I have spoken to the local CWU representative who said they haven’t got a designated postman and it is a case of managing a really poor situation.”

He continued: “There are huge challenges nationally and locally.

“In general there is a massive shortfall in resourcing across the country.”

In December, Royal Mail was fined £10.5m by the regulator Ofcom for failing to meet delivery targets for first and second class mail.

At the time, Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services said it had carried out “substantial” reforms to try to deliver improvements.

The company announced plans in 2022 to cut 10,000 jobs following ongoing strike action and financial losses.