Parcels pile up at delivery office

They complain there is a growing pile at the delivery office in Devonshire Square with more than 2,000 packages waiting to go out.

John Newell of St Andrew’s Road is experiencing long delays in having parcels delivered and says it has been taking up to three weeks.

He queried the delay and said: “I was informed that they have a backlog of over 2,000 parcels and they did not know when I would receive mine. They could not look for it as there were so many, and it might take hours to find it. I was told I should get the posting docket from the sender and complain to the post office when I might receive compensation.

“I told them I just wanted my parcel.”

Another customer, Brenda Farman, of Hawkhurst Way, has been waiting for a parcel since February 16, and is “really perturbed”.

She told the Observer: “I went into the sorting office and he said - We have got 2-3,000 parcels out in the shed and I haven’t got the time to go and look for it. We haven’t got enough staff, and until we have enough staff we are not doing anything about it.

“I thought if there are 2-3,000 parcels out there then there must be 2-3,000 people in Bexhill waiting for parcels.”

She added: “I think it is a political thing – and that is not at all satisfactory.”

Their claims were backed up by a postal worker who admitted: “We have around 3,000 packets and parcels in our store at Bexhill waiting delivery and nobody to deliver them. Or nobody prepared to pay the overtime to individuals who can spend extra hours delivering them.”

A spokesman from the Royal Mail press office confirmed there was “a small backlog” of items.

He said: “This has been caused by unforeseen levels of  staff on sick leave.  We will be bringing in additional resources as soon as we can and apologise to any of our customers who may be awaiting a delivery of a large item.“