RESIDENTS have been left 'infuriated, appalled and concerned' as they continue to face significant disruption to their postal deliveries, more than a month after the Advertiser first reported the problem.

Frustrated residents raised concerns in July about the impact on their daily lives, including missed medical appointments, delayed communications, and mounting inconvenience.

In response to the grievances, a Royal Mail spokesperson at the time acknowledged the delays and expressed regret to the affected residents.

They said the disruptions are due to recent vacancy issues at the local delivery office.

Despite this, many are still facing the same issues.

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At the time Cindy Goddard spoke to the Advertiser she said her household had not received any post since June. She was waiting for important vehicle documents to be posted, while her husband missed hospital appointments due to the letter not arriving.

She said: "It is absolutely infuriating. Last night I was so angry to the point that I had to stop myself from crying because I didn't know what else to do. 

"I think that someone else higher up needs to be held to account, it is just ridiculous now."

Despite this, she said she knows that "the guys on the ground are working hard".

Since then she said: "My local postman went above and beyond today and went through the post to find the document I was desperate for."

Resident Chris Walters faces a similar situation and said he had not received any post since August 23.

He said: "The situation is still appalling. We are both in our 70s and are also constantly concerned that important letters from our GPs or hospitals are not arriving. We now phone our GP surgery about every 10 days to find out if anything is outstanding. I know there are people who have missed important hospital appointments because of late mail and been referred back to their GP, causing further delay to their treatment."

Meanwhile, Ray Phillips said he did see a "brief improvement" with deliveries after the Advertiser first published a story in early July.

He added: "Ever since then we've seemingly been on the rotational basis the town appears to be on and just greet the mail as it arrives.

"Andover does appear to be in a bit of a void. In mid-July I separately sent a couple of non-urgent 2nd Class large letters over the period of a couple of weeks to different areas of the country and I was informed that they both arrived the next day.

"I'm personally waiting for something non-urgent that I was informed was sent almost a fortnight ago. It hadn't arrived until the weekend just passed and unfortunately, I feel compelled to have to get in touch with the sender very soon. I only want what I've ordered and unless something changes very soon they are going to carry the burden of the cost, again."

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Other residents have also seen some improvements in deliveries since problems were first reported.

Claire Lockley informed the Advertiser that she received post for the first time in 18 days on Thursday, September 7.

She said: "I know there's still one birthday card missing that we're expecting. When I went to the sorting office Tina was really helpful. She promised to look through the trays of post and ring me, which she did.

"Such a shame that people pay a lot of money for a stamp yet they just can't be delivered due to staff shortages. Having the sorting office open each end of the day, every day would help people collect their stuff."

The Advertiser posted on Facebook to ask residents when they last received a post on September 4.

Replying to the post Terry Whenman posted: "I haven't had a one piece of mail, not even junk mail, for three weeks and according to my urologist there should be a letter in my possession regarding an appointment with him."

Carrie Stevens posted: "Just received some documents that were sent to me on 3 AUGUST. along with the duplicates sent out on the 18th. Another item sent at the beginning of August still hasn't arrived. The situation is dire and totally unreliable."

Meanwhile, John A Davies branded the problems as "bloomin useless" after he received his second hospital appointment the day after the appointment was due.

Julie Muirhead said she rarely receives post more than once a week.

She posted: "Waiting for some stuff that I ordered over a week ago that has been sent and still not delivered. Bloody ridiculous now."

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are sorry to residents in Andover who have experienced delays. Our priority is our quality of service and we are committed to ensuring deliveries are reliable and on time.

"The majority of customers served by the local delivery office receive their mail on a daily basis. However, some mail has been impacted by resourcing issues driven by higher levels of vacancies than usual and sick absences.

“We would like to reassure residents that everything is being done to keep delays to a minimum. Anyone who has mail and does not receive it on the day they expect will be prioritised the following day. A recruitment campaign has also been underway with new starters expected.”