Coronavirus Northern Ireland: Royal Mail stops Saturday letter deliveries
Royal Mail announced this week that from 2 May 2020 it will reduce its service delivery by removing letter deliveries on Saturdays.
Tracked parcels and Special Delivery items and most parcels will still be delivered on Saturdays.
Shane O’Riordain, Managing Director of marketing, regulation and corporate affairs at Royal Mail, stated, “Our postmen and postwomen are working very hard across the UK in challenging conditions.
“As we said at the start of the coronavirus crisis, there will be some disruption to services.
“We understand the importance of the postal service in keeping the UK connected at this time.
“We have also listened to our hard-working colleagues who have asked us to ease the additional burden on them if possible.
He added, “As a result, we are making some temporary changes to postal services.”
Speaking to Newry Times, Kellin McCloskey, Head of Postal Services Policy at The Consumer Council, said, “The Consumer Council understands this is a challenging time for all delivery key workers across Northern Ireland.
“We recognise the great work of Royal Mail staff at this time when consumers are more reliant than ever on their deliveries.
“The change to withdrawing letter delivery on a Saturday should have minimal impact on consumers but will allow Royal Mail the ability to better manage its network given the problems it is facing with corona-related absences and necessary social distancing.
“The Consumer Council would hope that these changes will lead to the safeguarding staff whilst ensuring the efficient delivery of all mail across Northern Ireland,” Kellin added.
The Consumer Council has a dedicated Postal Services coronavirus webpage, which offers advice for consumers on postal deliveries, couriers, Post Office branches and Post Office accounts.
It is available at www.consumercouncil.org.uk/coronavirus
Keep up to date with all the latest Northern Ireland Coronavirus / Covid-19 news HERE
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