Royal Mail has assured Frome MP Anna Sabine that it is ‘working hard’ to improve the town’s postal service and deliver consistently six days a week.
The update follows concerns raised by residents late last year about the ‘unreliable’ postal service in Frome. Many residents reported waiting up to two weeks between deliveries, with some claiming they had received only three deliveries in six months. This led to missed hospital appointments and the non-delivery of bills and payments.
Anna Sabine appealed to residents to share their experiences before writing to Royal Mail to question why Frome was so badly affected.
In a reply to the MP, Royal Mail’s customer operations manager for Frome said, “We are currently delivering to the majority of addresses served by the Frome delivery office six days a week.”
The spokesperson also assured the MP that Royal Mail is actively recruiting new postal workers and encouraged interested applicants to visit their website.
They added that Royal Mail is “working hard to further improve the service so that [they] can deliver consistently six days a week to all addresses served by the Frome delivery office.”
Concerns had also been raised with the MP that sorting office management was instructing postal workers to prioritise parcels.
In response, the spokesperson admitted that during the Christmas period, packages are prioritised to allow further sorting of letters. However, they stated that outside of these seasonal plans, Ofcom has found no evidence that Royal Mail senior management directs the prioritisation of parcels over letters.
Anna Sabine said, “With the assurances given that this will not be the case going forward, I am hopeful that Royal Mail sticks to its word and that the service for residents served by the Frome sorting office will improve in 2025.
“However, they suggest this issue is limited to the Christmas period, which is not consistent with the experiences constituents have shared with me. I will continue to monitor the situation closely. I hope that with its new recruitment drive and the push to employ more postal workers locally, existing hardworking postmen and women will be properly supported to do the job they are committed to.”
Pictured: MP Anna Sabine
