Several people living on Fountains Road claimed they have been waiting weeks for bank statements, bills and hospital letters
Fountains Road, Kirkdale, where neighbours say they haven’t received post for weeks. (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Neighbours on a Kirkdale street claim their postman has “disappeared” as they wait almost three weeks for post. Several people living on Fountains Road claimed they have been waiting weeks for bank statements, bills and hospital letters.
Many of the neighbours are elderly and said they rely on Royal Mail as they do not use the internet. Susan Glover, 73, told the ECHO: “There’s just no postman, they’ve disappeared. We’ve had absolutely nothing since April 25 and it’s the middle of May now.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. I know for an absolute fact that some of the mail we’re waiting for is important.
“There’s bank statements, P60s from my husband’s pension, a bill for Virgin, which is dated April 20. There’s just absolutely nothing coming through.”
Royal Mail said it continues to make deliveries in the area every day when there are items to be delivered. It said 92% of letters are delivered on time nationally.
‘There’s just no postman’
Fountains Road, Kirkdale, where neighbours say they haven’t received post for weeks. (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Mrs Glover said service has been spotty since the end of March. She continued: “We get a lot of mail. All our bank statements come through the post because I don’t trust the internet for anything. You used to see the postman about even if you didn’t get mail yourself.”
Mrs Glover said she has been unable to get through to Royal Mail on the phone, and when her husband attempted to collect the post from the sorting office at Sandhills, he found it closed on Monday.
She said: “I am very worried about the bank statements. I have no idea how much has been taken out in direct debits.”
‘We don’t get post’
Fountains Road, Kirkdale, where neighbours say they haven’t received post for weeks. (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Neighbour Sophie Hughes, 38, said members of her household had missed four hospital appointments over the last couple of months. She said: “We just don’t get post. We haven’t had any for two or three weeks.
“The hospital thinks you’re lying when you blame the post. The only time you see the postman is when there are parcels, and when the post does come, it’s a big bundle of letters.
“Lots of people must be missing bills and appointments, and I worry that bills will be missed and people will be hit with late fees.”
219 million letters to arrive late this year
Fountains Road, Kirkdale, where neighbours say they haven’t received post for weeks. (Image: Liverpool Echo)
In February, the parliamentary Business and Trade Committee launched a snap investigation into Royal Mail’s letter deliveries after what it called “widespread reports of late and missing letters, or letters bunched together for delivery days after they were due”.
The committee reported important notices, medical appointments and celebrations were being missed, and concerns were raised that the essential letter service was being de-prioritised in favour of the more lucrative parcel service.
The committee estimated 126 million First Class letters, around 25%, will be delivered late this year, despite the cost of a First Class stamp rising to £1.80 last month. First Class stamps now cost almost three times more than they did ten years ago.
The existing Second Class service is performing better than First Class even if still off-target at 90.2% delivered on time within three days – translating to around 93 million being delivered late across this year, the committee reported.
In April 2025, shareholders cleared 500-year-old Royal Mail’s buy-out by the EP Group. They gave the Government legal undertakings that they would maintain the “one price goes anywhere” Universal Service Obligation. Ahead of the deal, EP Group’s CEO Daniel Křetínský told the BBC he would honour the letter delivery service “for as long as I am alive”.
In July 2025 Ofcom announced significant changes to the USO, with Second Class deliveries dropped down to every second day, Monday to Friday only. Royal Mail would get new “backstop” targets to for mail it delivers up to two days late, and report against those too.
‘Patients tell me they’re missing hospital letters’
Fountains Road resident Helen Ellis, 52, a healthcare assistant at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, told the ECHO: “It’s been a good couple of weeks since we had letters. There have been parcels, but no letters.
“Patients are telling me they aren’t getting hospital appointment letters. I don’t send anyone letters anymore because I don’t trust they’ll be delivered.”
Neighbour Monica Palombello, 80, told the ECHO: “We’ve not had any post since before the bank holiday. My M&S card bill is meant to come on May 1. It’s the same for my daughter, who lives down the road. I’m worried about missing something important.”
Other neighbours told the ECHO some post has been getting through. Laura Haworth, 25, said: “I’m sure we have [had post delivered recently]. About three days ago my sister had documents for her passport come through.”
Another neighbour, who declined to be named, told the ECHO: “It’s terrible around here. I can’t remember the last time we had letters through. I waited ten days for a birthday card from my best friend, who lives in Runcorn.
“I was sent a text on my birthday asking if I enjoyed the card, but it didn’t turn up for over a week. I last saw the postman a few days ago. You see the little red van pull up and they drop off a couple of parcels, then it goes.”
The ECHO approached Royal Mail for comment. A spokesperson said: “We know how important it is that letters arrive on time, particularly when they relate to hospital appointments or other important documents.
“We can confirm our posties continue to make deliveries across the area every day where there are items to be delivered. Nationally, more than 92% of letters are delivered on time and 99.4% arrive within a week, meaning long delays are very rare.
“However, we would encourage any customer awaiting important items to contact us directly so we can investigate.”