South East customers complain of severe Royal Mail delays ahead of Christmas
WATCH: ITV News Meridian's Joe Coshan spoke to affected customers.
Customers in the South East have complained of severe delays to their Royal Mail deliveries.
Some people in Kent and Sussex say they will not even bother to post their Christmas cards to loved ones because they do not trust they will arrive on time.
Others are being forced to collect their post from sorting offices due to severe delays.
Harri Chakkar has been building his new home in Gillingham for several months and says he has been delayed because items have not arrived on time.
Harri Chakkar says some of his first-class deliveries are arriving up to 12 days late.
He said: "Some items have been four, five, ten days late and it gets frustrating because it's holding you up.
"Then you have to go to and pay double the price to your local builders' merchants so why should I have to suffer because Royal Mail can't get their act together?
"I've now had to apologise to my family, my nieces and my cousins to say sorry I'm unable to send the cards but I have got them.
"Because they're not going to there on time, it's going to be a waste of money, my time and I'll just have to do like a Zoom call to see how they're getting on. It's sad."
Royal Mail says deliveries on Harri’s road have been impacted by an unforeseen absence, which has meant mail is being delivered on rotation.
Some people say they are being forced to collect their post from sorting offices.
Chatham & Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch said: "I think the biggest problem is that residents are not getting the mail that they are expecting.
"Some of that has included missed hospital appointments. Some of that is birthday cards or sympathy cards. I think it's a real challenge for constituents.
"I've spoken to Royal Mail directly and they have assured me that they have put in measures to alleviate some of the problems that they were facing.
"I just hope that residents are going to have a better service before Christmas."
Chatham & Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch says she's spoken to Royal Mail.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "Our teams are working extremely hard to ensure a consistent and reliable service to households throughout Kent and Sussex this Christmas.
"We can confirm mail is being delivered to homes daily, with the vast majority of mail being delivered on time.
"Our latest published quality of service figures show that three-quarters of first-class letters arrive the following day, and 96% are delivered within three days of posting."
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