THE Royal Mail says delays in people's post arriving in St Helens has been caused by "resourcing issues".

The Star has been made aware of residents in the area, who have had their post repeatedly turn up late over previous weeks.

This has included letters and parcels arriving late and has happened in areas across different areas of the borough.

When asked about the issue, The Royal Mail apologised for delays and says it is addressing the issue and is seeing service levels "improving".

One Sutton Leach resident, who contacted the Star last week, said: "There has been issues with receiving letters and parcels.

"This is not just in our area of Sutton Leach but the surrounding areas of the borough as well.

"We waited over a week for a special birthday Moonpig card that should have been next day!

"I can honestly say I have only seen the post person once this week, what is going on at all?

"I have even heard of people going to the office in town to collect their own parcels and mail as they have been waiting that long for them, only to find out when they have got them they have been sat there for over a week."

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He added: "I believe they are giving priority to parcels, so if they are sitting there for over a week I dread to think how long we will be waiting for letters!

"It's just not on, we pay for a service and we expect one.

"This needs looking into before Christmas and sorting, literally!"

When contacted by the Star, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We apologise to customers for any delays they may have experienced. In the local area we are currently experiencing some resourcing issues which we are addressing as quickly as possible.

"We are working hard to resolve the situation and service levels are now improving.”