The number of postmen delivering in Mullion has been slashed by more than half and some residents are not receiving their letters until 7.15pm.

This was the claim from resident Sue Ormond, from Redannack North, who said problems had begun following a reshuffle by Royal Mail last month.

This affected Helston and parts of the Lizard Peninsula, in TR12 areas where the second part of the postcode starts with a 6 or 7, as well as TR13 areas beginning with 0, 8 and 9.

Residents were warned that new delivery routes could mean people receiving their post later, or in some cases earlier.

However, the company said that all households should have received their post by 3pm in the town and by 4pm to farms and rural areas.

Yet Mrs Ormond claimed this was not the case, as she knew someone who had not received their mail until 7.15pm one day.

The number of delivery staff had been cut from five (four full time and one part time) to two, she added, working from one van.

Mrs Ormond said: “I think it’s disgraceful. There are 1,000 houses in Mullion – it’s supposed to be the biggest village in Cornwall.

“These two chaps are supposed to work from God knows what in the morning and it was half past seven one night when they finished.

“How do they expect them to deliver in the dark when winter comes?”

Royal Mail had already announced that one of the main differences would be extra vans being used, where postmen and women drive the mail to central points in the different delivery areas and then continue to deliver it by hand from the van, to prevent them carrying such heavy and bulky loads from the post office at the start of the day.

Royal Mail spokesperson Adrian Booth said: “We sincerely apologise for delays in the delivery of mail in parts of the Mullion area over a couple of days recently. This has been caused by recent changes made to delivery practices in the area. Staff and managers have been working very hard to ensure that all mail is delivered so that we can provide the high level of service expected by customers.

“We will continue to monitor these new practices and if any customers experience delays as the new systems bed in we would urge them to contact our customer service department on 0845 601 1399. Our deaf and hard of hearing customers can use our Textphone: 0845 600 060.

“In an ever-changing mail market with declining mail volumes, Royal Mail must make best use of all its resources and changes such as those being made in and around Mullion are essential to ensure we can continue to provide the one-price-goes-any