Wem or Shrewsbury? New complaints to Royal Mail over addresses

People in Wem continue to claim their post has not arrived or have received the wrong post because of confusion caused by Shrewsbury being in addresses for the town for many years.

Pauline Dee, Shropshire councillor for Wem, told members of Wem Town Council on Thursday night that the issue was still causing big problems for residents. She said: "If I go online and type in my address then it doesn't recognise Wem and changes it to Shrewsbury.

"It is wrong because we are a town in our right.

"People have had the police turn up to arrest someone at an address which should be in Shrewsbury.

"We are hoping that as many people as possible will report their problems with Royal Mail because of the address including Shrewsbury or even if you have any other problems.

"We have had a passport arrive which had been intended for an address in Shrewsbury. This will give us evidence to send to Royal Mail.

"Let me know at my email address pauline.dee@shropshire.gov.uk or let the town clerk, Penny O'Hagan know.

"The town council will be writing to Royal Mail." Royal Mail said it will investigate any specific problems which are brought to its attention. In 2015 it wrote to Wem Town Council to say it will not consider a request to change or remove a post town.

In the letter, the council was told that "a postal address is not intended to describe a precise geographical or administrative area".

It said it is a sorting and routing instruction to postal staff which enables mail to reach its destination from any part of the country. It added that changes could not be made unless an area is being re-coded for operational reasons.

Royal Mail spokesman Rhys Jones said: "We are disappointed to hear of the issues customers in Wem have experienced with their mail and will of course investigate any specific problems which are brought to our attention.

"Our advice to all customers is to always use the postcode to ensure we can route and deliver mail efficiently."