Royal Mail has announced delivery delays impacting twelve postcode areas across Oxfordshire this weekend, June 6 and 7. While the postal service normally delivers letters six days a week and parcels on Sundays, local disruptions are causing temporary delays.
The delays stem from challenges in several local offices, including high sickness absence, staffing shortages, and other localized factors. To manage the situation, Royal Mail is rotating deliveries to reduce delays for individual customers and providing additional support to affected offices to restore service quality.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We aim to deliver to all addresses six days a week. In cases where this isn’t possible due to local issues, we work hard to minimise delays and appreciate customers’ understanding.”
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This announcement comes amid wider criticism of Royal Mail’s delivery performance. Last October, the company was fined £21 million by Ofcom after falling short of its delivery targets, with only 77% of First Class and 92.5% of Second Class mail delivered on time during 2024-2025.
Royal Mail is now committed to improving service. Its targets include boosting First Class Next Day delivery to approximately 85% within nine months and reaching Ofcom’s 90% benchmark within a year. For Second Class mail, they aim to deliver 93% within three days in nine months and meet a 95% target by May next year.
Despite a “challenging start to the year,” Royal Mail reports steady performance improvements. By March, 81.1% of First Class mail was delivered within one working day, while 90.2% of Second Class mail arrived within three days.
Jamie Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer at Royal Mail, commented: “We are investing significantly to improve reliability and meet new delivery targets, but changes across a network this large take time. The Universal Service reform will help us adapt to modern mailing habits while preserving affordable nationwide delivery. We plan to roll out a new delivery model nationwide by the Christmas peak and have laid out clear quarterly targets. Early results this year show progress is on track.”