HUNDREDS of people throughout Rayleigh are likely to be missing out on postal deliveries due to problems with the Royal Mail delivery chain.

According to its website, people in the SS6 postcode are affected due to issues, such as “high levels of sick absence, resourcing or other local factors”.

A spokesman for Royal Mail 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.

“In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers.

“We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive.

“We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.”