FRUSTRATED residents have hit out at the Royal Mail after they severe disruption to their postal deliveries.

Some homes in the Rochford and Southend area have not had post for more than a week.

One resident claims he was told he will just have to wait until it turns up.

Matthew Roberts, 34, of Woodgrange Drive, Southend, said: “We haven’t had post for at least four days.

“I spoke to someone from the Royal Mail customer services and they said staff in Southend was having some issues.

“I asked when it could be expected to return to normal and they couldn’t tell me and I would just have to be patient.

“It’s just not really good enough.

“I have no idea what kind of post I have been missing, but I even asked if I could come and collect it and they said no.

“The thing is - it’s all very well and good if the disruption resolves and we start getting post, but how can we be sure the things we haven’t been receiving will ever turn up?”

The problem has not just affected the Southend area. Some residents in the Rochford district have also complained about an insufficient service.

Megan Palmer, who lives in Rochford, took to social media to complain about the service and said: “We have had constant problems.

“They told me it was due to poor weather conditions in our area - no joke.

“I can’t speak to anyone from this area and now have an important piece of post lost.

“I am not faulting our posties because they are amazing and clearly over-stretched.

“It just seems the human resources department are incapable.”

The Royal Mail has attributed the problem to “staffing issues” and would not specify when the disruption would be resolved.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman added: “Royal Mail has had some issues with mail deliveries in Southend in recent days and we apologise to customers who may have been affected.

“This has been due to a very high level of sick absence in the local delivery office.

“We are committed to delivering a high quality of service to our customers and we are doing all we can to minimise any disruption to our services, including bringing in temporary workers.

“Any customer who has concerns about their mail delivery should contact Royal Mail Customer Services.”

Customers can call on 03457 740740.