Royal Mail deliveries to one Moray village have become so bad they are now reportedly arriving only one day a week – on Sundays.
Post has historically never been routinely delivered on the seventh day in the IV and AB postcode areas.
However, residents in Cummingston, near Lossiemouth, have reported they have been getting deliveries.
In fact, they say Sunday is the only day they’re getting post at the moment.
It comes as posties in the area are volunteering to work overtime to keep up with the mail.
Royal Mail deliveries across the country have been affected by a critical shortage of staff.
It says it has hired 16,000 additional staff nationwide but admits homes could still experience delays.
‘No post on Sundays!’
The Beaumont family includes Jennifer, her husband and their six children.
Understandably, getting everyone to where they need to get to on certain days can, at times, take military-precision planning.
During the last month they have been forced to make late arrangements for doctor’s appointments that have dropped through the letter box just in time.
And bills dated at the very beginning of November have arrived at the end of the month just in time for demands to pay within 28 days.
Mrs Beaumont said: “The children are massive Harry Potter fans. There’s a little quote in one of the movies about no post on Sundays, which is when Harry receives his first letter inviting him to Hogwarts.
“The kids just love shouting out ‘no post on Sundays’ when the letters arrive.”
Posties pushed to the limit due to Royal Mail shortages
To cope with a critical shortage of posties locally, the Royal Mail has withdrawn a six-day service in the area.
The Beaumont family say Sunday is the only day they have received post for the last month.
When they asked their postie what was happening, they revealed they were working overtime to get the letters out due to staff shortages.
Mrs Beaumont said: “We get on quite well with her, she does a great job, but she says they’re just absolutely swamped at the moment.
“She had a week off recently and she told us that nobody had touched the letters while she was off because there’s absolutely no cover.
“It’s crazy. I have bank cards that expired in November that I’m still waiting on replacements for but everything comes in batches and dribs and drabs now.”
Royal Mail delays across Moray
Residents across Moray have been reporting delays with Royal Mail deliveries for several months now.
Some delivery staff were reportedly considering industrial action earlier this year due to workplace concerns.
However, the CWU union has told the Press and Journal no strike ballots have been scheduled.
A Royal Mail spokesman explained residents should be receiving post at least every second day currently, which may include Sundays.
She added: “Throughout Cummingston and the surrounding areas, our teams are working extremely hard to ensure a consistent and reliable service to households this Christmas.
“Our employees are committed to serving their communities and we are proud of the work they are doing to sort, deliver and collect mail this festive period.
“We can confirm we have mail being delivered to homes daily with the vast majority arriving on time.
“A local delivery office may, at times, be impacted by a delay and when this occurs we have dedicated teams in place to take immediate action.”
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