A man from Bucks said his family has been left ‘distressed’ after Royal Mail failed to deliver birthday cards for two years in a row.

Irving Lomon, 76, a retired London taxi driver who now lives in Marlow Bottom with his wife Bobbie, said his family is 'upset' at the lack of action being by Royal Mail to locate their missing post.

Most of Irving’s family live in Northwest London and put a lot of thought into the annual birthday and celebration cards they send to him and his wife.

Despite having absolute confirmation that cards have been sent First Class, however, Irving and Bobbie have not received birthday messages through their mailbox in two years.

“It made the family very upset – they’ve told us when they’re posting the cards and when they have been sent. But they never come. It’s very strange.

“I still receive other post. I can only assume that someone thinks they’ve got money inside and somehow gets hold of them.”

He has struggled to resolve the issue with Royal Mail, whom he said “don’t seem to be very interested” in the ongoing problem.

“My wife is very, very close with her family and they spend time and effort writing these cards. You’re also losing a lot of money, if you’re spending £2 or £3 on a card, then £1 on postage just for it to never arrive.

“It seems like it’s got something to do with a local sorting office. There have been some that I know have been sent from London and others from Essex that definitely haven’t arrived, so where they’re being sent from doesn’t seem to be the problem.”

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Irving added that the lack of action from Royal Mail was “distressing” to him and could prompt a shift away from traditional written communications.

“Some people who we’ve had problems receiving letters from in the past have said they’re not going to send cards from now on, they’re going to send emails instead.

“It’s a sad thing to lose and it’s surely going to have an impact on the Post Office if it starts happening all the time.”

After Irving posted about his experience on NextDoor, several other residents of the South Bucks area said they had faced similar issues, with some speculating that staffing issues at Royal Mail might be to blame.  

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are sorry to any residents who have experienced delays in the Marlow area in recent months. Improving our quality of service is our top priority and we are committed to restoring service levels to where our customers expect them to be.

“We would like to reassure residents that currently all mail at the delivery office is being delivered every day, with no delays impacting the service.

“We would encourage anyone who has concerns about their deliveries to please contact Royal Mail customer service on 03457 740 740 or by visiting www.royalmail.com. We will gladly investigate your concerns and seek to resolve any issues.”