ROYAL Mail has issued a major delivery delay warning in 14 areas across the UK.

The postal service said disruptions are a result of staff shortages.

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On its website, the postal service said it aims to deliver six days a week - but for some unlucky Brits services will be massively delayed this week.

This is partly down to a high number of employees on sick leave.

The company said: "We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week.

"In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors."

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Royal Mail added that offices experiencing staff shortages would receive extra support to reduce the delays for customers in the affected areas.

It will also commit to "rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers".

It added: "We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

"We will regularly update customers on the offices most impacted."

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Royal Mail deliveries take place every day of the week other than Sundays.

First-class mail is delivered the day after dispatch while second-class post should arrive two days after.

However, the complex system can see delays sparked by just one aspect of the mail service experiencing problems.

This could be disruption to mail centres, air mail, road or rail, while local factors could also play a role.

Check the list below to see if your postcode is impacted by the disruptions:

List of postcode hit by Royal Mail delays

• Alnwick DO (NE66 to NE71)
• Ashington DO (NE22, NE62, NE63 and NE64)
• Billesdon SPDO (LE7)
• Boston DO (PE20, PE21 and PE22)
• Dudley DO (DY1 - DY3)
• Heywood DO (OL10)
• Hull Malmo Road DO (HU6 - HU8, HU11, HU16 and HU20)
• Hungerford DO (RG17)
• Huntingdon DO (PE26 - PE29)
• Lanark DO (ML11 and ML18)
• Leicester East DO (LE1, LE2, LE5, LE7 and LE21)
• Manchester South East DO (M11, M12, M13 and M18)
• Sleaford DO (NG34)
• Southgate DO (N14)

This comes as Royal Mail urged the Government and Ofcom to review its obligations, arguing that it is no longer workable or cost-effective, given the decline in addressed letter post.

In its submission to Ofcom in April, it proposed ditching Saturday deliveries for second-class post and cutting the service to every other weekday.

Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's group director for networks and communications, said: "If we decide to propose changes to the universal service next year, we want to make sure we achieve the best outcome for consumers.

"So we're now looking at whether we can get the universal service back on an even keel in a way that meets people’s needs.

"But this won't be a free pass for Royal Mail – under any scenario, it must invest in its network, become more efficient and improve its service levels.”

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Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services (IDS), which agreed to a £3.57billion takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky in May, said "change cannot come soon enough" to the UK’s postal service.

Royal Mail also scrapped old-style stamps and replaced them with barcoded ones last July.