9:00PM GMT 25 Dec 2010 The Royal Mail drafted in staff on Christmas Day in an attempt to clear the backlog of undelivered mail, staff have revealed. Hundreds of thousands of letters and parcels have not reached their destinations after Royal Mail failed to cope with the weather.
A survey by The Sunday Telegraph of Christmas deliveries suggests that seven per cent of packages posted before the Royal Mail's Christmas deadlines failed to arrive in time.
The paper sent 100 packages by first and second class post to ten locations across the country. Of those, seven packages failed to arrive by the evening of Christmas Eve.
Postal staff writing messages on a web forum for Royal Mail workers said it was the most chaotic situation for decades, claiming there were too few drivers to deliver the post.
"This Christmas has been the biggest shambles in my 18 years service," one said on the website
Telegraph