East Antrim urged to nominate a neighbour

Postal delivery staff believe that this will help to improve customer satisfaction and first time delivery.

The new initiative follows Royal Mail’s ‘delivery to neighbour’ scheme.

When customers arrive to pick up a parcel at a delivery office, they will now be asked to nominate their preferred neighbour to receive parcels on their behalf. A simple form is completed at delivery offices so that identity and address information can be verified.

Under the ‘Nominate a Neighbour’ initiative, the postman or woman will try the designated address first before trying other addresses nearby. This provides customers with further reassurance about the location of their parcel and helps postmen and women on their delivery rounds.

Rob Jenson, Royal Mail operations director for Northern Ireland, said: “This new initiative is great news for our customers as it offers further choice and convenience if there is no-one at home.

“For our postmen and women, it means that they are even more likely to deliver parcels and letters first time rather than having to take items back to the office. First time delivery of parcels and signed for items is high in Royal Mail, and in the trial delivery offices, this improved further.”

The initiative commenced in all delivery offices from March 30. Posters advertising the new service will also be on display in offices and further information is available from Royal Mail Customer services on 03457 740 740.

Special delivery items and international items requiring a signature are excluded from the delivery to neighbour scheme. Customers can opt out of the delivery to neighbour scheme if they wish.