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15
Sept
Late delivery problems plaguing Harrogate are over, says Royal Mail
Delays to postal deliveries that have been plaguing Harrogate householders in recent weeks should now be over, Royal Mail has said.
Discussion of the problem has lit up local social media platforms recently, and last week Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon even called for constituents to get in touch if they had been adversely affected.
Some readers also contacted the Stray Ferret about it. Kim Crawford, who lives in the HG2 postcode, told us last week:
The post started to slow right down a couple of weeks ago, and it often arrives days late.
This week, I was expecting three parcels, and they’re all late. One was marked for next-day delivery, but that was two days ago and it’s still not arrived.
I’m in all day and have [security] cameras, and they [delivery workers] haven’t been anywhere near me.
It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it, and it’s definitely a problem with the district sorting office.
'Unexpected rise in mail volumes'
We asked Royal Mail what was going on, and a spokesperson told us the problems were “temporary, due to local factors in Harrogate”.
Asked if social media reports were correct that the problems were due to a backlog of mail caused by understaffing and the introduction of a new system, the spokesperson said:
No. After the bank holiday a few weeks ago, we saw an unexpected rise in mail volumes locally.
They added:
We know how important it is that letters and parcels arrive on time, and we're sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers in Harrogate when resourcing challenges and a higher-than-expected increase in mail volumes recently affected deliveries.
Deliveries have now returned to normal, and we've brought in posties from neighbouring delivery offices to help support the operation while we continue to recruit locally.
They also said the rollout of Royal Mail’s new delivery model had also helped to stabilise deliveries.
A second-class stamp now costs 91p.
Missed targets
Formerly, the Universal Service Obligation required Royal Mail to collect and deliver letters to every UK address six days a week. But changes announced in July 2025 mean that while parcels will still be delivered up to seven days a week and first-class mail six days a week, second-class items will now only be delivered every other weekday.
Royal Mail aims to delivery second-class and standard bulk business mail within three weekdays. This means that anyone wanting a second-class letter or card (stamp price: 91p) delivered by the weekend must now post it by Tuesday at the latest.
A first-class stamp now costs £1.80.
But Royal Mail has been fined £37m since 2023 for routinely failing to meet targets set by communications watchdog Ofcom.
Under Ofcom’s rules, 93% of first-class mail (stamp price: £1.80) must be delivered within one working day of collection, but last year almost one in four first-class items (24%) missed this target.
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