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23
Sept
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP raises 'serious concerns' over Royal Mail late deliveries
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has written to Royal Mail raising “serious concerns” over continued disruption to postal services in the area.
Mr Gordon said his office had been “inundated” with complaints from residents for “many months” over delays, missed deliveries and in some cases entire weeks without post.
The Stray Ferret has highlighted the issue in a number of articles this year, including Harrogate villages being left without post for several weeks and one reader receiving a Christmas card nearly four weeks after it was posted.
In a letter to Michael Hogg, senior public affairs manager at Royal Mail, Mr Gordon said the scale and persistence of the issue was “unacceptable”.
He said:
These failures are having a damaging impact — from missed NHS appointments and delayed bills to disruption for small businesses reliant on timely correspondence.
Mr Gordon added that he had not received a response from Royal Mail to a previous letter he sent to David Gold, director of external affairs and policy, where he raised similar concerns.
The Lib Dem MP said that while he recognised that part of the problem is caused by recruitment and resourcing at the company, the scale of the disruption “over a long period” was unacceptable.
He added:
I am particularly concerned that, with Christmas approaching, the additional seasonal pressures on the system will make an already difficult situation significantly worse.
The move comes as Mr Gordon urged Ofcom to intervene in the amount of late deliveries in Harrogate and Knaresborough in June this year.
At the time, a spokesperson for Royal Mail apologised for the disruption caused.
They said:
We understand how important timely and reliable deliveries are, especially for urgent or time-sensitive items.
We have been recruiting to strengthen our delivery teams in the area and encourage any residents experiencing problems to contact us directly so we can investigate.
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