Queuing '˜farce' at Portsmouth's new Royal Mail delivery hub

FURIOUS customers have condemned '˜farcical' queues at Portsmouth's new Royal Mail delivery hub as problems mount over the service.
Problems this morning at Royal Mail's new Voyager Park delivery hub PPP-160411-141405001Problems this morning at Royal Mail's new Voyager Park delivery hub PPP-160411-141405001
Problems this morning at Royal Mail's new Voyager Park delivery hub PPP-160411-141405001

Limited waiting space inside the Voyager Park complex means people are left to stand outside in the cold for their parcels – with nowhere to sit or shelter from the rain.

Residents say appalling parking arrangements mean they’re left to leave their cars on nearby kerbs.

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And there’s fears long queues will only get worse in the run up to Christmas.

Courtney Moore waiting for a parcel at the new Royal Mail delivery hubCourtney Moore waiting for a parcel at the new Royal Mail delivery hub
Courtney Moore waiting for a parcel at the new Royal Mail delivery hub

While slips telling residents to collect their mail are still directing them to Royal Mail’s Slindon Street branch – which closed last month along with the Cosham service to make way for the new Voyager Park venue.

Royal Mail said the move was part of the ‘ongoing transformation and modernisation’ of its UK mail processing and delivery operations.

Sue Moore, of Southsea, was stood in the rain with her daughter, Courtney Moore.

Mrs Moore said: ‘It’s a total farce, it’s unbelievable.

Courtney Moore waiting for a parcel at the new Royal Mail delivery hubCourtney Moore waiting for a parcel at the new Royal Mail delivery hub
Courtney Moore waiting for a parcel at the new Royal Mail delivery hub

‘Why is there no rain cover for the customers?

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‘What do you do if you are disabled? There’s the bus but you get dropped into the middle of nowhere.’

One disabled blue badge holder said she had been forced to ‘stand on one leg’ in the queue as there was no where to sit while waiting to be served. Southsea resident Alex Wood, 30, said: ‘I’ve taken time off work to come and pick up a parcel.

‘It’s far from convenient.

‘I live two minutes down the road from where the delivery office in town used to be.

‘So now it’s a 15 minute drive out of the city to get here.’ Terence Garnett was given a slip to go to Slindon Street, only to find out it had closed. He said: ‘They ought to have told us we were going into another world.

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‘No-one knows what is going on, I haven’t got a clue where I am. I’m not happy about it.’

One disgruntled woman said: ‘I don’t mind queuing, but you can’t have a delivery office this far out of town.

‘It’s not fair.’

While another customer said: ‘We live in Cosham so it’s out of the way.

‘It’s not even Christmas yet, it’s just going to get worse.

‘And we’ve had to park on a kerb. We thought coming here was meant to be easier.’