Sunday service pilot at city RoyalMail delivery office

A similar pilot will take place at Belfast Tomb Street.

Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Services at the Consumer Council, welcomed the move.

She said: “We hope this pilot will make life easier for postal consumers who can sometimes find it difficult to collect their undelivered mail from Delivery Offices because the opening hours are unsuitable.

“Almost 8 in 10 consumers prefer to collect items from a delivery or sorting office. Failed delivery attempts are not only a major source of frustration and inconvenience to consumers but can also bear a significant cost for carriers and retailers.”

She added: “With more than 1 in 3 consumers shopping online, parcel operators need to develop convenient and innovative delivery solutions. Recently, Royal Mail has shown some progress in this area by introducing a number of new measures including the delivery to neighbour initiative and its ‘Click and collect’ service for small business customers.”

Kellin concluded: “We will look forward to seeing how the pilot works in practice and if it can be further rolled out to all delivery offices in Northern Ireland.”