East Oxford folk braced for further Royal Mail delays

The postal service said there would be further disruption to deliveries of letters and packages in the OX3, OX4, OX33, OX44 and OX49 postcodes.

In an email sent to homeowners this morning (Monday, November 13), the company blamed “resourcing issues” at the Oxford East Delivery Office in Littlemore. 

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It comes as East Oxford residents are already feeling the brunt of the postal backlog.

Some claim that post is only delivered once every two or three weeks.

Councillor Damian Haywood said Royal Mail was failing in East Oxford (Image: Ed Nix)

"Yet again, Royal Mail is failing in East Oxford,” said Damian Haywood, an Oxfordshire county councillor for Iffley Fields and St Mary's.

“This affects us all, but especially the more vulnerable who may rely on mail for hospital appointments or other vital information.

"Royal Mail must invest to ensure that Oxford has the service it urgently needs.”

Last month, Mr Haywood, who lives in East Oxford, received a letter containing important council information a month late because of postal delays.

An exclusive Oxford Mail investigation last month uncovered scores of undelivered letters and packages at Royal Mail’s Littlemore site.  

The postal service admitted that a lack of staff was causing delays in Oxfordshire and claimed it was recruiting to fill the gap.

But the company was today (Monday, November 13) fined by regulator Ofcom for a “significant” failure to meet its postal delivery targets in the past financial year.

Ofcom imposed the penalty following an investigation launched in May after Royal Mail fell short of its performance targets across the 2022 to 2023 financial year for first and second class mail deliveries.

Some 73.7 per cent of first class mail was delivered within one working day across the year, against a target of 93 per cent, while 90.7 per cent of second class mail was delivered within three working days, compared with the target of 98.5 per cent.

And 89.35 per cent of delivery routes were completed on the required day, well behind the 99.9 per cent target.

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The postal watchdog said that, even after taking into account strike action disruption and extreme weather, Royal Mail’s first and second class performance was still only 82 per cent and 95.5 per cent respectively.

Royal Mail admitted it was “very disappointed” with its delivery performance in 2022-23, but said it was a “uniquely challenging” year with the group grappling with 18 days of strike action.

Addressing delays in Oxford, a company spokesman said: “We are committed to restoring our quality of service to our customers.

“We have plans in place and dedicated teams responsible for improving deliveries in Oxford and at our delivery offices nationwide.”