London worst hit by the Royal Mail delivery crisis

London has been struck down by the Royal Mail delivery crisis - with one in three of the worst affected postcodes in the UK lying in the capital.

Of the 56 worst-hit areas, 18 of them were in London due to 38 delivery offices struggling to cope with what Royal Mail said were Covid-related absences and “other local factors”.

It comes as 1,300 people in Dulwich, south-east London signed a petition over what they called “a failing postal service”.

It read: “For years, residents of SE22; East Dulwich, Dulwich Village and parts of Peckham Rye have suffered with a failing postal service.

“This has led to many suffering with lost prescriptions, lost documentation, lost banking details, fraud and stress.

“Royal Mail has been failing to provide even a basic level of service in beleaguered SE22 and the surrounding areas.

“We just want to get our mail on time without waiting weeks between deliveries.”

It came as undelivered letters have been piling up due to Covid staff shortages at the Royal Mail – which has affected more than 34 postcode areas.

Delays in postal services over the New Year’s and Christmas period have carried over into early January as the Royal Mail updated customers on impacted offices on Wednesday.

Stories of missing letters were shared online from across London.

One resident who lives in Plumstead, south-east London, said: “I’m still waiting for a letter from my dad which he posted two weeks ago. I spoke to the postman today who said that letters are piled up in the depot but they just haven’t been able to deliver them.

“He said they were prioritising parcels over letters.”