Royal Mail delays: Why is your festive mail not being delivered?

Royal Mail has warned of postal delays across Scotland in the lead-up to Christmas.

The parcel giant says it is experiencing problems in numerous local offices due to high levels of sickness absence and “resourcing issues”.

Glasgow, Dundee and Paisley postcodes are among the areas affected, along with towns and villages in Aberdeenshire, Fife, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire.

Royal Mail has apologised to customers and says it is rotating deliveries to minimise the delay to those affected.

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Have you been impacted by Royal Mail delays? Have you missed an important letter or parcel?

A spokesperson said: “We know how important letters and parcels are, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

“This is our busiest time of year, with mail volumes more than doubling, but the vast majority of items continue to be delivered on time.

“Where there is disruption, we work to resolve it as quickly as possible and keep services moving.

“Last year, 99% of items posted by the last recommended posting dates were delivered in time for Christmas, and we’re grateful to our posties for their efforts during this exceptionally busy period.”

Areas currently experiencing Royal Mail delays:

Aboyne SUDO (AB34)
Airdrie DO (ML6)
Altens DO (AB10, AB11, AB12 and AB35)
Dundee East DO (DD4, DD5 and DD7)
Dyce DO (AB21)
Glasgow G52 DO (G52 and G53)
Glenrothes DO (KY6 and KY7)
Inverclyde DO (PA14, PA15, PA16, PA17, PA18 and PA19)
Inverurie DO (AB51 and AB52)
Johnstone DO (PA5, PA6, PA9, PA10 and PA12)
Paisley DO (PA1, PA2 and PA3)
Renfrew DO (PA4)
Uddingston DO (G71)
Westhill DO (AB13, AB14 and AB32)

Royal Mail’s festive woes come just weeks after it was revealed that less than three-quarters of first class mail was delivered on time in recent months.

The delivery giant said 73.4% of first class post was delivered the next working day between June 20 and September 28.

It also reported that 90.4% of second class mail was delivered within three working days. The latest quality of service report shows a declining performance since its annual results.

Royal Mail was fined £21m by regulator Ofcom for missing its mail delivery targets for the 2024-25 financial year.

The company said it was hiring about 20,000 extra workers to help transport, sort and deliver mail over the busy festive season.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “In recent years, we’ve fined Royal Mail £37m for its poor letter delivery performance, and we’ll continue to hold the company to account.

“This year, we modernised the obligations imposed on Royal Mail – to reflect what people need, put the service on a more sustainable footing, and enable the company to invest more in improving its delivery performance.

“Royal Mail must now play its part by implementing this effectively and improving its reliability.”