Oxford East MP urges Royal Mail to act after surprise visit

The Oxford East MP arrived unannounced at the postal service’s Littlemore distribution site yesterday morning (October 26).

Entering through an unlocked door, she found stacks of undelivered letters and parcels before she was asked to leave.

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“I saw a lot of mail that was waiting to be delivered,” she said.

“I have so much respect for our posties in Oxford and the local management who I think are working extremely hard.

“But we really need the national Royal Mail to be listening.”

Royal Mail said staffing issues were causing Oxfordshire’s delays and claimed it was recruiting actively.

On an organised visited to the delivery office a couple of months ago, Mrs Dodds found it well organised and functioning.

But she claims postal workers messaged her afterwards to say the backlog had been hidden from her during the visit.

Anneliese Dodds entered the delivery office through an unlocked door on Thursday morning (Image: Oxford Mail)

On Thursday, she returned to the delivery office without informing Royal Mail staff accompanied by an Oxford Mail reporter.

“I should be very clear that nobody let me in,” she said. “I just walked in myself.”

Mrs Dodds walked through the delivery office and found undelivered letters for entire streets, as well as hundreds of packages in metal trollies.

“That wasn’t the case when I visited before,” she said.

“I didn’t see completely cleared decks. I saw a lot of mail that was waiting to be delivered.

“Before, there was only one road group not delivered. This time, there was a lot of mail.”

She approached a manager on site, who blamed the backlog on a lack of staff.

He said 13 vacancies were being advertised at the delivery office.

READ MORE: Councillor hits out at Royal Mail delays in East Oxford

Mrs Dodds observed stacks of undelivered letters and hundreds of packages in metal trollies (Image: Oxford Mail)

The manager, who asked not to be named, said post was now remaining in the office for up to two days, compared to 12 to 14 hours before the backlog.

He said some staff were working late, sometimes until 9pm, and that the backlog was just as bad as during the Covid pandemic.

One postal worker, Edward Mundy, who spoke to Mrs Dodds, said: “I wish everyone could come and look around. There’s a lot of delays.

“A lot of people have been waiting a long time for their mail. It puts a lot of stress on the staff. As workers we lose our drive.”

After around 15 minutes, Mrs Dodds was escorted out of the delivery office.

Speaking afterwards, she said: “Our post men and women want to do a good job. It’s not an easy job.

"They are out in difficult weather, and they walk an extremely long way every day.

“It’s a critical job.

“I have been in very regular correspondence with Royal Mail. I have taken up dozens of constituent's concerns. I will continue to do that.

“I want to say to national Royal Mail that my door is open. We want to help and make sure this post is getting delivered.

“But that means being open and transparent about the scale of the challenges in Oxford and not trying to say that everything is perfect because it very obviously isn’t.”

The postal delays have caused havoc in Oxfordshire in recent months.

Homeowners in East Oxford, Thame and Banbury have reported receiving letters and parcels late, or not at all.

Some have resorted to visiting their sorting office in person to demand their mail.

When Mrs Dodds arrived yesterday morning, two people were outside to collect letters.

William Yeates, 87, speaking to Anneliese Dodds outside the Royal Mail East Oxford Delivery Office (Image: Oxford Mail)

Hamid Hamza, 50, visited the delivery office because he had not received his marriage certificate (Image: Oxford Mail)

William Yeates, 87, had to drive there from his Blackbird Leys home. Upon arrival, he couldn’t find anyone to speak to.

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” he said. “I’m waiting for an important letter. It was posted last Thursday, and it should be with me by now.

“A lot of people are blaming Covid, but it should have improved by now.”

Hamid Hamza, 50, from Headington, said he had not received his marriage certificate after tying the knot on October 5.

“It is not the first time that things have been bad. In August, we were only getting post once every three weeks,” he said.

Royal Mail said a recruitment plan was in place to improve its service.

Around 6,000 postmen and women have been recruited nationally over the last 12 weeks, and the postal service is taking on 16,000 temporary workers in the lead up to Christmas.

A spokesperson said: “These actions plus others are already making a difference in some areas and we are confident that they will continue to improve quality of service for our customers.”