A single Denby Dale street is “at the back of the queue” when it comes to postal deliveries, says a woman who lives there.

Judith Beckett, who lives at Thorpes Avenue, suggested to Royal Mail that other streets should take their turn for late deliveries after mail started arriving at random times - sometimes as late as 7pm.

She said: “It is absolutely ridiculous. What makes it worse is that Thorpes Avenue is just a mile from Scissett sorting office where our post comes from.”

Mrs Beckett, who has lived at her address since the 1970s, said the issue of late deliveries had been going on for a couple of years after the regular postman on his rounds was replaced by deliveries by van.

“My road ceased to be a dedicated route,” she said. “The post was coming on different times every day. There was even one delivery on a Saturday when it was 7pm. Yet, they deliver to the next street in the morning.”

Postal delivery problems at Thorpes Avenue, Denby Dale.

Royal Mail’s target is to deliver to addresses in urban areas by 3pm and in rural areas such as Denby Dale by 4pm.

But Mrs Beckett said: “If there is a problem then it is our deliveries that are disrupted. Important business letters and birthday cards should be delivered within the Royal Mail guidelines.”

She said Royal Mail told her nearby streets who got their mail on time were probably on a different delivery walk. And as her route did not have a regular delivery officer on the route, cover staff could be taking longer because they didn’t know the route.

A Royal Mail spokesperson apologised for the late deliveries, saying it was due to “resourcing issues” at the local office.

She said: “We are working to resolve these issues and all mail is being processed and delivered to our customers. We are ensuring that a member of staff delivers mail to customers in Thorpes Avenue before our specified time of 4pm. We would like to apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused.”