A councillor has expressed his frustration with Royal Mail deliveries after the company was fined more than £5 million.

Independent councillor Peter Atkinson has repeatedly raised issues with the delivery service in his ward of North Portslade and said it is “no surprise” that the company has been fined for its poor performance.

Royal Mail was fined £5.6 million earlier this week by regulator Ofcom due to missing delivery targets by a “significant and unexplained margin”.

Cllr Atkinson has complained to Royal Mail about the state of the service in his local area, receiving a letter from the company’s senior public affairs manager, Michael Hogg.

In the letter, seen by The Argus, Mr Hogg said there are “no current issues with the delivery of mail to addresses in North Portslade”.

He said: “The customer operations manager has confirmed that mail deliveries are taking place six days a week when there is mail available to be delivered.

“I would like to reassure you that, should there be an occasion when a delivery round cannot be completed on a particular day, it will become the priority the following working day.”

However, Cllr Atkinson has said that complaints he has received from residents do not match what Royal Mail has claimed.

Some of the messages he has received from residents have said they are “lucky if we get post twice a week”, with hospital result letters not being received, while others said “post arrives beyond when it was meant to be useful” and that they “can go days without any mail and then get several items in one delivery”.

The Argus: Royal Mail was fined more than £5 million for missing delivery targets by a 'significant and unexplained margin'Royal Mail was fined more than £5 million for missing delivery targets by a 'significant and unexplained margin' (Image: PA)

Cllr Atkinson said: “I find it completely inexplicable that they claim that all deliveries are back to normal. This is simply not true for many parts of North Portslade.

“It is no surprise to me that Royal Mail has now been fined by Ofcom.

“What is also incredibly frustrating is that it’s impossible to lodge a meaningful complaint on a local basis.

“I’ve tried Ofcom and various other bodies but you just end up dealing with Royal Mail’s customer services team who then send you a letter claiming all is well.

“I’d really emphasise though that this is not the fault of the ordinary postal worker. They are doing the best they can.

“It’s clearly the way the company is now being managed - more run into the ground really.”

A report by Ofcom revealed that Royal Mail had delivered less than three-quarters of first-class mail on time over the last financial year.

In response to the report, a Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We are very disappointed with our quality of service performance in 2022-23 and acknowledge Ofcom’s decision today.

“Quality of service is extremely important to us. We take our commitment to delivering a high level of service seriously and are taking action to introduce measures to restore quality of service to the level our customers expect.”

Royal Mail has been approached for comment.