TWO letters posted on the same day from the same city post box arrived 10 days apart, with a letter sent to Scotland arriving before any sent to Worcester addresses.
We posted 10 first-class letters in Worcester as an ‘experiment’ to test the validity of ongoing complaints about Royal Mail delays in the city, concerns which have prompted the city’s Labour MP, Tom Collins, to voice his own frustrations on behalf of residents.
People in Worcester have complained that some letters take three weeks or more to arrive, including urgent hospital appointment letters and important financial documents with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust increasingly relying on other forms of communication, such as text messages, to keep in touch with patients.
The Warndon Villages Liberal Democrat city councillor, Sarah Murray, has also been heavily involved in a fight to improve the service, including visiting Worcester Delivery Office to demand answers.
FAST: Richard Gray in Scotland got a letter from Worcester – before someone in Worcester who lives less than two miles from the post box (Image: Supplied)
A letter sent to an address in Michael Tippett Drive in Worcester was the last of the 10 to arrive, dropping on the doormat on Tuesday, September 15 – a full 10 days after it was posted.
This address is under two miles from the post box in London Road, Worcester, where we posted the letter on Friday, September 4.
In contrast, a letter posted at the same time from the same post box (also with a first class stamp) arrived at an address near Kelso in Scotland – 280 miles away from Worcester – the next day, suggesting a postcode lottery when it comes to our postal service, with people in Worcester losing out.
Postal delays sparks ‘experiment’ after multiple complaints
Results of ‘postal experiment’ revealed following complaints of late post
Worcester runners worried about ‘missing race packs’ over postal delays
Posties getting ‘verbally abused’ in Worcester as councillor says ‘be kind’
The aim is that a Royal Mail first class letter should arrive the next working day, including Saturdays, although many in Worcester have reported that their post frequently takes two to four working days to arrive. Some readers in Worcester say some letters were taking more than three weeks to arrive.
For example, we reported in June how Derek Barnard and his wife, Moira, were saddened when the vet’s sympathy card for their dog Barney arrived five weeks late at their home on the new Regency Gate estate in Worcester, while his own birthday cards did not come in time.
After several weeks, they went to the city’s sorting office to pick them up, frustrated with the standard of the service.
James Connell shortly before launching the Royal Mail postal ‘experiment’ at post box in London Road in Worcester (Image: Newsquest)
All the letters in our experiment were posted on Friday, September 4 at 3pm (and would have been collected the following day, Saturday, September 5) at 9am from a post box on London Road in Worcester (near Waitrose). All but one (the one sent to Scotland) were sent to addresses in Worcester – yet the first letter to arrive was the one sent to Scotland.
Three arrived the following day (Saturday, September 5) in Worcester postcodes and one near Kelso in Scotland (four in total next-day delivery). Three arrived on Monday, September 7. Two arrived on Tuesday, September 8.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We deliver millions of items reliably every day across the UK. Results based on a small number of items over a short period aren’t representative of how a national network delivering billions of letters each year performs overall.
“The latest data shows more than 93 per cent of letters are delivered on time and over 99 per cent arrive within a week, meaning longer delays are rare. However, we recognise our service hasn’t always been to the standard our customers expect and we’re determined to do better. This includes plans to improve performance across the UK, backed by £500 million of investment over the next five years.”