Royal Mail has apologised for delays in delivery and collection services in parts of the UK.
The national postal services said the delays were due to local issues, such as high levels of sick absence or resourcing.
They also announced that on Friday morning, a vehicle travelling from its Midlands Hub to the Home Counties North Mail Centre broke down on route.
Mail that was due to be delivered in the AL, EN, HP, LU, SG and WD postcode areas will arrive ‘later than expected’, the postal service said.
Two mail centres also experienced challenges, including Nottingham Mail Centre, where not all mail was processed or dispatched to schedule, and will therefore ‘arrive behind schedule’.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: ‘We’re sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.’
Yesterday, Roya Mail assured that they will try to minimise the affected and provide targeted support to restore the service.
The Daily Mail has approached the postal service for an update.
Royal Mail said the delays were due to local issues, such as high levels of sick absence or resourcing
It comes after Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21million in October for missing its annual first and second-class mail delivery targets, leading to millions of letters arriving late.
It marked the third-largest fine ever imposed by the communications watchdog.
Royal Mail delivered 77 per cent of first-class mail and 92.5 per cent of second-class mail on time during the 2024/25 financial year, Ofcom said.
As part of the reforms to the universal postal service, Ofcom has lowered targets for first-class post to be delivered the next day from 93 per cent to 90 per cent and second-class to be delivered within three days from 98.5 per cent to 95 per cent.
But Ofcom added that a new ‘enforceable’ backstop delivery target, requiring 99 per cent of post to be delivered no more than two days late.
Royal Mail said the performance was set against a ‘backdrop of rising costs and macroeconomic pressures which are expected to continue into 2026’.
The business added: ‘These include national insurance contribution increases of around £120million, increased wage costs in the UK business and complexities in the global trading environment.’
It said it had hired 20,000 temporary workers ahead of the busy Christmas season, with 7,000 new vans and the opening of four seasonal parcel sorting centres with an additional 118,000 square metres of extra space, which it said was equivalent to 16.5 football pitches.
