ROYAL MAIL WARNS 77 UK POSTCODES OF WEEKEND DELIVERY DELAYS

Royal Mail has warned that 77 postcode areas across the UK will experience mail delays on Saturday 1 August and Sunday 2 August. Affected areas include Barry, Carmarthen, Dudley, Milton Keynes, Minehead and Wolverhampton. Letters and parcels will be delivered on Saturday, while only parcels will be delivered on Sunday in these regions. Royal Mail attributed the disruptions to local issues including high levels of sick absence and resourcing constraints in a small number of local offices.

The company said it aims to deliver to all addresses six days a week but stated that temporary disruptions may occur due to local factors. In cases where full delivery is not possible, Royal Mail will rotate deliveries to minimise delay to individual customers. The firm also provides targeted support to affected offices to restore service to normal standards. Royal Mail apologised for any inconvenience caused by the delays.

These warnings follow a £21 million fine from Ofcom in October last year after Royal Mail achieved only 77 per cent on-time delivery for First Class post and 92.5 per cent for Second Class post during 2024 to 2025. Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail's chief operating officer, stated the company is putting significant investment into improving reliability and has set clear quarterly targets for performance improvements. He said early performance this year shows the company is tracking in line with its plan to deploy a new delivery model to all delivery offices by the Christmas peak period.