The Royal Mail is struggling with festive demand as workers claim it prioritises Amazon Prime over cards and hospital scans.

Posties say sorting offices are the ‘worst in decades’ with letters piling up as the service is hit with a record £10million fine for missing delivery targets.

Staff blame the chaos on managers ordering them to ship lucrative ‘premium products’ at the expense of NHS letters and seasonal greetings.

Royal Mail previously denied that this was policy but admitted this week they do so ‘at exceptionally busy periods’. A spokesman claimed this was because packages ‘take up far more space than letters’ but insiders say it is because of lucrative contracts.

Ofcom yesterday announced the biggest ever penalty for missing delivery targets after more than a quarter of first-class mail was not delivered on time.

With tens of millions of cards due for delivery this month, one postman in the South East said the situation is ‘soul destroying’.

He said: ‘With hand on heart, if you’re going to want a card to get somewhere for Christmas send it tracked… otherwise it will get there when it gets there.’

Another in the South West said his depot is ‘overflowing’ with undelivered mail. ‘It’s a shambles – all they care about is parcels and tracked delivery,’ he said. ‘Amazon get priority over first class, second class and NHS letters.’

One on the south coast said: ‘The powers that be are destroying the business from within – it seems they really don’t care about the letter.’ 

The Mail revealed last year how depot managers are telling staff to prioritise money-spinning tracked deliveries over post.

Royal Mail denied it was policy at the time. It now says both items ‘are treated with equal importance’ but that it ‘may be logistically necessary’ to prioritise packages ‘at exceptionally busy times like Christmas’. Whistleblowers have claimed the move is down to money after the service was privatised in 2013.

The price of a second-class letter starts at 85p and £1.65 for first class. But the Royal Mail can charge businesses between £3.25 and £13.70 for a parcel, depending on weight, size and delivery window. Ofcom has fined Royal Mail four times – including £5.6million last year and £1.5million in 2020 for missing delivery targets. In 2018 it was fined £50million penalty for breaking competition law.

Yesterday it was hit with a £10.5million fine after just 74.7 per cent of first-class mail and 92.7 per cent of second class was delivered on time – well short of the respective targets of 93 per cent and 98.5 per cent. 

Meanwhile, courier firm Yodel has paused all door-to-door deliveries due to surges in orders over Black Friday and Cyber Monday and said it had temporarily adjusted some collection schedules to maintain smooth operations.

And Evri customers have complained their Christmas presents have gone missing after couriers lied that they had been delivered. 

James Pearson, 44, bought his 13-year-old stepson Harley a watch for Christmas which the driver said he had left. But the delivery picture showed the item still in the worker’s car.

Only weeks before, another package delivered by the firm was allegedly stuffed half in his letterbox and was stolen. 

An Evri spokesman said: ‘Every parcel matters to us and we work hard to understand what has happened when our usual standards are not met.’

A Royal Mail spokesman said: ‘There is no new contract or policy. Amazon products, including Prime deliveries, have been delivered via our network for many years.’

‘Our posties are working extremely hard to deliver everyone’s presents and cards in time for Christmas and we plan to build on last year’s success where we delivered 99 per cent of items before Christmas Day.’ They added: ‘We are not experiencing any current network-wide delays.’

A Yodel spokesperson said: ‘Due to record-breaking volumes and a surge in larger parcels over Black Friday week and Cyber Monday, we temporarily adjusted some collection schedules to maintain smooth operations.

‘Deliveries are continuing, and our teams are working tirelessly during the busiest time of the year to clear a small remainder of outstanding parcels as soon as possible.’