Royal Mail closures have led to growing queues at delivery depots, according to The Guardian.
Over 50 delivery offices have been closed since the company went private in 2013. One recent closure, of a depot in East Dulwich, South London, has seen customers waiting up to 60 minutes to pick up their parcels at the nearest office.
Local MPs and residents had campaigned to keep the Silvester Road depot open, as the next closest depot is 30 minutes’ walk away in Peckham. Since the closure, residents have reported a reduced number of deliveries, with rounds skipped by postal workers who are short on time, and missing items including bank cards.
Local Labour MP Helen Hayes described it as “a complete shambles, and is exactly what we predicted when we originally fought the closure of the office. Royal Mail would not listen and this has been the outcome. The nearby West Norwood office is also under threat of closure and, if that goes ahead, I predict the problems seen in East Dulwich will be dwarfed by that. Royal Mail needs to learn from this and think again.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson responded that the situation has improved but cited an increased number of collections during the festive season, while a 12% overall reduction in letter volumes was the reason given for the closures.
She added: “Fifty-two offices have closed since privatisation, less than 4% of our delivery office estate. On average, that is around 12 offices a year, which is broadly comparable with the closures pre-privatisation.”
Source: The Guardian
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