Royal Mail has published a list of 28 areas across the UK that no longer receive regular post because many staff have contracted coronavirus or are self-isolating.
People living in areas such as Daventry, Barnsley, Leeds, Margate and large parts of London – including Highbury, Wandsworth and Hornsey – are receiving limited deliveries.
Royal Mail said: “Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resource, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards.
“This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices to keep our people and customers safe. In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can.”
Customers have reported delays to postal services on social media sites including Twitter in recent days, beyond the busy Christmas period.
A number of Royal Mail staff who work at the delivery office in Lincoln are self-isolating after three confirmed cases at the site. The delivery office in Margate carried out a deep clean last week after three members of staff tested positive for Covid-19 and about 20 people are now isolating.
The delivery issues have raised concerns that letters sent to people over 80 inviting them to be vaccinated against coronavirus may not get to them in time.
Ilford in east London is one of the areas with limited deliveries. Wes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North, tweeted on Sunday:
More than half a million letters inviting people to be vaccinated will be sent in the coming days. @RoyalMail delays have been so bad - because covid is knocking out staff - that I am worried about them arriving. Is there a way to prioritise these letters, @nadhimzahawi?
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) January 10, 2021
In Hornsey in north London, there have been delays of up to six weeks and some post and parcels sent in November have still not arrived. Residents have contacted the local MP, Catherine West, who was told by Royal Mail that before Christmas, Covid-related absence levels at the delivery centre were about 30%, while last week they were 11%.
Royal Mail said mail deliveries were taking place “at least every other day” in Hornsey and it had retained agency workers hired over Christmas to help clear the backlog. West said at the weekend she would be meeting Royal Mail chiefs this week.
For constituents in Hornsey and Wood Green, I’m meeting @RoyalMail chiefs this week, following lengthy correspondence regarding service complaints (avail on my website). Please email me with updates so I can feed in those concerns to the meeting. CW
— Catherine West MP (@CatherineWest1) January 9, 2021
Royal Mail’s list of areas with limited deliveries:
Ashford (TN23-TN27)
Barnsley (S70, S71, S72 and S75)
Basildon (SS13-SS16)
Bow (E3)
Bury St Edmunds (IP28-IP33)
Chelmsford (CM1-CM3)
Christchurch (BH23)
Daventry (NN11)
Debden (IG7-IG10)
Enfield (EN1-EN3)
Grays (RM16-RM20)
Hampton (TW12)
Highbury (N5)
Hornsey (N8)
Horsham (RH12, RH13)
Ilford (IG1-IG6)
Leeds City (LS1-LS5)
Lewisham (SE13)
Magherafelt (BT45, BT46)
Margate (CT7-CT9)
Rugeley (WS15)
Somerton (TA11)
South Ockendon (RM15)
South Woodford (E18)
Lower Holloway (N7)
Wandsworth (SW18)
Wellington (TA21)
Widnes (WA8)