Royal Mail employee speaks about mail build-up in Ellesmere Port

The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke to the Globe about "what is really going on" inside the Ellesmere Port Royal Mail Delivery Office, as they have seen recent complaints from members of the public about them not receiving much post.

They said: "I just think it’s about time the general public knew what is really going on inside their local delivery office as managers need to be held to account."

Royal Mail claims that they "do not prioritise parcels" as "every item of mail is important" to them, however, the Royal Mail employee explained that managers at the Ellesmere Port depot, at the Rossmore Trading Estate, are making them do that very thing.

They said: "The rounds have been made so large that they are not achievable and we are told to focus on tracked parcels and leave the letters.

"We are told we cannot fail tracked parcels (because they’re tracked and customers know when to expect them) yet there are cages and cages full of them in the loading bay that haven’t even been touched, so we feel like we are failing the mail for nothing as the parcels are failing anyway."

Pictures sent to the Globe, show the reality of the Delivery Office and the piled-up mail.

Mail waiting to go out (Image: Newsquest)

Mail waiting to be delivered (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking about the reasons for the backlog, the Royal Mail employee said: "Managers will tell you the backlog is due to being short-staffed, but every postie in the office will tell you it’s because they’ve made our workload too big and then given us extra parcels on top.

"This is resulting in the mail building up until it gets to the point where some areas are only getting mail every few days because we can’t possibly complete it all in the time we have.

"It’s very demoralising and office morale is the lowest it has ever been."

Mail backlog (Image: Newsquest)

What did Royal Mail have to say?

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We are sorry to residents who have experienced delays. Improving our quality of service is our top priority and we are committed to restoring service levels to where our customers expect them to be.

"At the local delivery office there are current issues with staffing levels brought on by vacancies and sick absence. This is causing some delays. However, everything is being done to ensure these delays are kept to a minimum. Mail continues to be delivered and anyone who has mail, and does not receive it on the day they expect, will be prioritised the following day.

"Every item of mail is important to us. Royal Mail does not operate a policy of prioritising parcels.

"We regularly remind colleagues that the delivery, collection and processing of letters and parcels should be treated with equal importance.

"Due to the amount of space they take up, parcels can restrict the movement of both people and mail in our offices, leading to health and safety issues and delays to other mail. 

"At particularly busy times we may occasionally at a local level clear parcels to free up space and address health and safety concerns so that we can keep all mail - including letters - moving efficiently through our network."