RESIDENTS of Silloth have aired their dismay over delays in mail deliveries - which reportedly meant that many mothers didn't receive a card in time for Sunday.

One resident told the News & Star: “There has been failure to deliver time sensitive mail throughout the town. Hospital appointments and information, birthday cards and, over the weekend, no mother or grandmother in Silloth received their Mother’s Day card.

"It’s a total disgrace and there should really be no excuses.

“I have spoken to a number of residents, some of whom have missed vital hospital appointments due to their mail not arriving for up to four days.

“Some of the things needing sent out could be life or death, time sensitive mail and may not get delivered until Wednesday at the very latest according to a post lady that I have spoken to.

“This is happening two to three times a week and needs sorted out. They might blame Covid but that’s old news. The company should have plans in place for such events.”

When asked by the News and Star about any difficulties with deliveries in the area, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The vast majority of mail is delivered safely and on time.

"We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.

"In the local area, we are experiencing some delays to service due to high levels of sickness absence, Covid-related self-isolation and resourcing issues.

"We apologise to any customers who may have experienced delays to their mail.

“We have been working hard to get our levels of service back to normal as soon as possible. Anyone who has concerns over the delivery of their mail should contact the Royal Mail customer service team on 03457 740 740 or via the Royal Mail website.”

Post delivered by the Royal Mail can be delayed due to a variety of reasons, but the group said that its air network, rail network and road network operated to schedule over the last 24 hours.