Ref. 75643-07 FURIOUS Brian Broad, left, and Andy Le Poidevin are upset that their mail has not been deliveredVILLAGERS in Purton have been scratching their heads wondering where their bills and bank statements have got to.

Over the past few weeks, residents in Vasterne Close, Purton, have found that their post has gone missing or arrived later than it should have.

At least once a fortnight, no mail arrives at all at some of the homes in the street.

And delivery times on other days have frequently ranged from 9.30am to as late as 6.30pm.

Brian Broad, a watchmaker who lives in the street said: "I rely on the post for the delivery of components and other parts.

"They haven't been arriving on time and it's just not good enough.

"On Saturday at approximately 10.40am a postman appeared to deliver to the nearby Jubilee Estate.

"He drove his van into Vasterne Close, turned round and drove off. There was nothing delivered in this estate."

Mr Broad is now considering writing to North Wiltshire MP James Gray.

He is annoyed that letters of complaint that he has written to post office managers in West Swindon and Dorcan have not been replied to.

Mr Broad added: "My three letters to the area manager Royal Mail have fallen on deaf ears.

"I've not received any acknowledgement or the courtesy of a reply."

Fellow resident, artist Andy Le Poidevin, has experienced the same problems.

Mr Le Poidevin said: "It's a serious problem. It's strange how we all come to rely on the post for all kinds of items but at the moment it cannot be relied upon.

"Quite a few of our neighbours are having similar experiences and I have found myself for waiting bank statements, and two in a row don't turn up. I've gone to the bank to find that they were both sent."

Dan Panes, the spokesman for Royal Mail said the organisation was aware of the problem but was working fast to solve the issue.

He said: "This is a problem we are aware of. Over the last few weeks we've experienced an extraordinarily high level of mail and some deliveries have been late in the day or not arrived at all.

"But we're working to make sure that there is a reversal so that those addresses which did not receive a delivery the day before will get their deliveries first.

"We obviously apologise for any inconvenience caused and we're in the process of solving it.

"We urge anyone who has a problem with their mail deliveries to give our customer services line a call on 08457 740740 and that allows us to trace any problems."

Anthony Osborne