Royal Mail misses first-class targets in parts of Black Country

But the company says it is beating deadlines for residents and businesses across Staffordshire, Dudley, Sandwell and Wyre Forest.

Bosses today said they were disappointed that mail was failing to reach customers in Wolverhampton and Walsall the next working day.

They vowed to make improvements but said figures for the other areas were pleasing and they were determined to maintain those levels.

The news followed a warning last week by the industry regulator Ofcom that Royal Mail could be fined after missing its targets for the year to March. Ofcom said it will consider opening a formal investigation which could result in enforcement action, including the possibility of fines, if future targets were missed.

It comes as Royal Mail faces potentially the biggest transformation in its history as the organisation was recently privatised by the Government.

But ministers came under fire after financial analysts said Royal Mail could have been undervalued as the organisation was oversubscribed within hours as investors rushed to place orders for shares in an initial public offering.

Figures show that in Wolverhampton 92.8 per cent of mail reached homes and businesses on time between April and September this year. But this missed the target set by Ofcom of 93 per cent. In the Walsall postcode area, the figure was 92.8 per cent over the same period.

Royal Mail operations director Stuart Simpson said: "We were disappointed that the two postcodes, WV and WS, narrowly failed the national target of 93 per cent for next day delivery of First Class mail.

"Royal Mail has the highest service specification of any major European country and we take our service performance very seriously.

"The quality of our service to customers is key to our success."

In the Birmingham postcode area, covering parts of Sandwell and Halesowen, Royal Mail hit the 93 per cent target over the same period.

Royal Mail achieved a 93.8 per cent result for first-class deliveries in the ST postcode area which covers parts of Staffordshire.

And it delivered a target-beating performance in the DY postcode area – including Dudley and parts of Wyre Forest – of 93.5 per cent of first-class mail arriving the next day after posting.

Mr Simpson added: "Our postmen and women are delivering to one of the most challenging next-day performance targets in Europe while we are undertaking one of the UK's biggest transformation projects."

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