Local postal service ‘a shambles’

Complaints were made by councillors recently, who said the issues had also been raised with them by local businesses.

Councillor Jim McElroy said, “It is unacceptable that post isn’t being received until 4pm on a Saturday.

“It is unfair, especially considering people are now paying more for their stamps.”

Councillor Paul Gribben said he had not received his council minutes the previous weekend, and described the local service as “a shambles”.

Spokesperson for Royal Mail, Barbara Roulston said, “We apologise to any customers in Banbridge who may recently have experienced later deliveries than usual. In mid June we made some changes to the way we do deliveries and it has taken some weeks for these to settle in.

“In addition we have had some resourcing issues coupled with very heavy volumes of mail following the July 12 holidays, which resulted in later deliveries. We have been working hard to resolve these issues and are confident that the normally high standards of service our customers receive in Banbridge will shortly be restored.

“Our service targets for delivery of mail are lunchtime in urban areas and mid afternoon for rural areas.”