Postal workers are working flat out to clear a backlog of packages in what has been described as their busiest ever Christmas.
Gary Clark, CWU branch secretary for the Fife and central Scotland area, said: “Every office is extremely busy. It’s an unprecedented amount of packets and parcels we’re getting this year.
“Everybody is working their socks off to clear the packets of mail as best as we can.
“We don’t want anybody missing out on any presents or packets for Christmas morning.”
After tighter Covid-19 restrictions were announced, Royal Mail suspended its Special Delivery guarantees for items posted on Wednesday.
Across the UK, an additional 33,000 seasonal staff have been brought in to tackle an “unprecedented” volume of mail.
More packages than usual are being processed as people do more online shopping during the pandemic.
And Mr Clark expects this to continue after New Year as people spend gift vouchers online.
“The staff and managers are all trying their best to clear what has been an unprecedented Christmas for postal workers, with the pandemic and the move to online shopping,” he said.
“It’s been extremely busy. I know people who have worked for Royal Mail for 40 years plus and this is the busiest Christmas that they can remember.
“There has been a move away from letters to packages, which take longer to deliver.
“We’re doing our best because we want to provide an excellent service to our customers.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We anticipate we will deliver more UK parcels in these three and a half weeks than some of our competitors typically handle in an entire year.
“Every single parcel, letter and card is important to us. Our amazing postmen and postwomen, who have kept the UK connected throughout the pandemic and two lockdowns, are doing everything necessary to get letters and parcels to everyone ahead of Christmas.”
