Hundreds of parcels are lying dumped in a Royal Mail sorting office because postmen say they do not have time to deliver them.

Workers at the North Road depot in Brighton yesterday admitted there were 15 “skips” full of parcels there.

Some frustrated residents said they have been waiting for important packages for more than three weeks since cost-cutting changes to delivery routes in the city were introduced last month.

The news comes after weeks of Royal Mail claims that there were “no significant delays” to deliveries from the North Road sorting office in Brighton.

When an Argus reporter visited the sorting office yes- terday, a member of staff revealed hundreds of parcels are lying undelivered in 15 skips inside the building, in particular packages for addresses in Kemp Town.

He said Royal Mail bosses were frantically trying to find extra drivers to shift the backlog but could not put a date on when the packages would finally be delivered.

The chaos seemed to be repli- cated in the Royal Mail press office yesterday, which insisted in the morning there were “no significant delays” to deliveries in Brighton and Hove.

North Road delivery man- ager Irene Scott made the same claim in a letter to The Argus. But after the press office was told at lunchtime that sorting office staff had let slip about the skips, a spokeswoman admitted four hours later there were “small delays to packet deliveries”.

Elfrid Walkingtree, who lives in Bristol Place, Kemp Town, is partially sighted and has brain damage.

He ordered special medicines from America to help with his disability but he believes the precious pills are still lying in a skip in the North Road office, two weeks after he was expecting them.

“I’m so frustrated and angry, ” he said. “I just want them to sort it out. Someone needs to take responsibility for this.”

Tony Robson, from Bristol Gardens in Kemp Town, makes gift cards for charities to sell.

He has been waiting for three weeks for nine parcels he thinks are stuck in the skips.

“I can’t make my cards without my supplies, ” he said. “I want an apology and an explanation. There’s no such thing as first class delivery in Brighton and Hove any more.”

Last week The Argus revealed the Royal Mail has paid out more than £700,000 in compensation for providing a second-rate service in Sussex over the last five years.

A spokesman from mail watchdog PostWatch said: “First class mail should arrive the next day, second class within three days and standard parcels within five working days. If mail is consistently arriving later than this in the Brighton area, we would call on people affected to go on the record and complain to Royal Mail.”

Have you been affected? Email bill.gardner@theargus.co.uk or call 01273 544531.