POST offices have stopped taking parcels because of a meltdown in the system caused by strikes.
A number of branches said they are turning customers away with over two weeks to go before Christmas.
PAThousands of pensioners are being warned not to ignore a letter from the DWP[/caption]
Punters in Bristow were among those to be met by a sign saying the Post Office would not take any more packages because of a backlog.
The Post Office said some branches “simply don’t have anywhere left to securely store them for collection.”
Brits are now having to trudge across town to chance their luck finding another post office that meets their most basic needs.
The Post Office backlog is adding extra strain on the mail network at the busiest time of year which has already been disrupted by strike actions by the CWU.
Over 100,000 postal workers are staging walkouts on Friday 9 December, Sunday 11 December, Wednesday 14 December, Thursday 15 December, Friday 23 December and Christmas Eve.
As a result of the strikes, Royal Mail has had to bring forward last postal days by a week.
Customers wanting to post second class items must do so at the latest by December 12 while expensive special deliveries must be sent by December 21.
A Post Office spokesman said: “Monday 12 December is now likely to be even busier in Post Offices as customers race to take advantage of the cheaper postage as this is now the last recommended date for sending 2nd class parcels to arrive for Christmas. Our advice is don’t wait to come into a branch to get Christmas parcels sent.”
The backlog of post that needs to be delivered comes after union bosses posted social media pictures gloating about the mountains of undelivered post in delivery centres.
“All across the UK the Christmas mail is piling up. Our members want to end the strike action but Royal Mail want to smash their jobs and refuse to engage with us”,” CWU tweeted.