Householders living in the Craven Arms and Church Stretton areas may find their mail doesn’t turn up until the afternoon as posties abandon early starts.
The Journal’s contact at the Royal Mail told the paper this week that big changes were planned for deliveries.
A postman, who does not want the paper to reveal his identity, said the main change agreed between the Royal Mail and the union the CWU was a later start to the working day.
But this will mean the end of the early morning postal deliveries for hundreds of south Shropshire households.
He said: “You’ve probably seen in the national press about the end of the Royal Mail/CWU dispute.
“The union have agreed to various things included a large degree of automation.
“Royal Mail staff at Craven Arms, which covers the SY6, and SY7 postcodes have been told that possibly by the end of this year, but certainly early next year, postmen will be working from 8pm until 4pm, rather than the 6pm-2pm at present.
“Customers at the far reaches of post rounds won’t now get their mail until late afternoon. We haven’t been told what arrangements, if any, have been made for businesses. There will also be a number of job losses.”
A spokesperson for Royal Mail denied that automation and changes to the working day would impact on delivery times.
She said: “We have already introduced 30 new machines in the UK and this has had no impact on delivery times to our customers.”
Last year, the Royal Mail ran into a storm of fury when it decided to close its sorting office in Church Stretton and move operations seven miles down the road to Craven Arms.
Some locals, including postal workers, feared the move would impact on delivery times.
