Islay residents forced to travel to collect post after Royal Mail staff quit

Residents on a remote Scottish island are having to collect their post from the local sorting office after numerous Royal Mail employees resigned over “poor” working conditions.

A severe staff shortage on Islay has left just three postal workers covering the entire community, as well as neighbouring island Jura, resulting in an inability to complete delivery routes.

Locals have subsequently faced waits of up to three weeks for letters and parcels to arrive – including hospital appointments and vital medication.

Residents on the islands often have to travel to the mainland to attend hospital appointments, and some say the postal delays have caused them to miss their appointments entirely.

As a temporary solution to the delays, residents are now having to take it upon themselves to travel to the island’s sorting office and collect their own post.

Those contacting Royal Mail’s head office say they have been told the problems are not flagged in the company’s system, with updates on the local Facebook page being the only source of information on the situation.

Tom Evans, a former Royal Mail worker, says he left the company in August after experiencing what he described as “poor treatment of staff”.

Mr Evans told the PA news agency: “The fundamental issue is that Royal Mail is a very poor company to work for – the worst I have worked for with 20-plus years across numerous industries.”

He said a contributing factor in his decision to leave was the company’s apparent reluctance to apply its island living allowance to staff on Islay, despite the team lodging a grievance over the summer.

Mr Evans said: “This [payment] is not applied automatically and one of my ex-co-workers only found out about it by accident as its existence is effectively hidden from staff.

“Anyone who has joined over the last five years or so have been denied this for no good reason.”

He added that the company’s workload is “ever-increasing without increasing resources and support”.

Jenni Minto, SNP MSP for Argyll and Bute, told PA: “Over the weekend I received inquiries from a number of constituents regarding disruptions to Royal Mail deliveries on Islay. They advised that Royal Mail had informed residents via a Facebook notice board that they would need to collect their own mail from the Port Ellen delivery office.

“This is of serious concern, especially when many constituents are waiting to receive letters with details of hospital appointments which could be missed due to these delays.

“I have written to Royal Mail yesterday and again today seeking urgent clarification on why this is happening and for information on what actions are being taken to rectify this. I have been advised this is being investigated but have not yet received any further response.”

Alastair Redman, councillor for Kintyre and the islands and an Islay resident, told PA that he has been “inundated” with emails, phone calls and social media messages from concerned locals.

He said: “I personally have not had any deliveries to my house in over two to three weeks, and there are some households that have been waiting close to a month for letters and parcels.

“Local residents that I have spoken to feel that unfair pressure is being put on them to pick up parcels from the Royal Mail sorting office on Islay in Port Ellen. For many this is a long and expensive drive.

“Hospital appointments are hard to come by right now and I have heard from local residents who have missed appointments due to late deliveries of appointment notification letters.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We do not operate a policy of requiring customers to collect their own mail on Islay.

“Every item of mail is important to Royal Mail. We are very sorry for any recent delays that our customers may have experienced. We have been affected by some resourcing issues locally, which we are in the process of addressing.

“Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website at www.royalmail.com.”