Residents of Skelmersdale believe they are in a "Bermuda Triangle for mail", with some claiming not to have received any post for months and regular queues at the local depot.
Locals in the West Lancashire town are fed up with not receiving mail deliveries, with only parcels being delivered to some addresses by postal workers. Royal Mail has said the issue has arisen due to staff on sick leave and said it has brought more people in to help resolve the problems.
One resident, Andrew, told the ECHO: "We haven't personally received a delivery of mail since October. This is a town of 40,000 people and Royal Mail are unwilling to step up and provide an appropriate level of service that delivers for local residents of this town.
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"Instead the only way residents of this town can obtain their post is by visiting the depot and collecting it, between the hours of 8am and 10am daily. As a result of this, people are left queuing out in the freezing cold to collect their mail, and this is having a real impact on people across the town."
Andrew, who asked to only be referred to by his first name, shared images of said queues outside the Skelmersdale Post Office, which he says are forming regularly.
The Skelmersdale resident said his partner nearly missed an urgent appointment for the couple's baby, which is due in late December and said elderly people have missed appointments because of the mail issues.
He added: "You can see in the photographs the queue of residents including one with a small baby waiting to collect mail as well as the volume of parked empty delivery vans, which indicate that very few are out delivering mail at the time the photo was taken (9:10am). The residents of this town who are being so badly let down by Royal Mail."
A glance at the Skem First local Facebook page shows how many others in the town are being affected by the mail crisis. In one post, resident Hayley Cook Smith can be seen holding a collection of letters that she has been forced to pick up from the depot.
She added: "Just been to a packed sorting office this morning, it’s an absolute joke! How are they getting away with this." The comments on her post tell further stories of frustrated and concerned residents who are waiting on urgent mail deliveries.
One said: "I've been waiting five weeks for urgent forms that I need to sign and return. I've spoken three times to the sender and every time they've been re-sent., but still I'm waiting on them."
Another added: "It is absolutely shocking. We get mail every 2-3 weeks. They send vans to the estate for signed for mail or parcels, but standard letters where is costs £1.25 per stamp are just not delivered."
The issue has been raised with West Lancashire MP Ashley Dalton who said she will meet with senior officials from Royal Mail on Friday (December 15) to get answers as to why there have been so many problems with mail delivery across her constituency.
She said: "I am acutely aware of the distress and inconvenience that has been caused and I will continue to take up all individual complaints. I will make clear to Royal Mail officials that my constituents are very unhappy. Together we can hopefully begin to find some solutions to the problem."
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “There has been delays in Skelmersdale over the last couple of weeks due to a number of employees being on sick leave. Our employees are working extremely hard to deliver mail to homes daily. Where this is not possible, routes will be rotated so no home is missed two days in a row. We have additional staff starting in the next couple of days to cover sick leave and we expect the issues to be resolved.”
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