POSTAL services in Trow-bridge are in disarray because cost-cutting measures at Royal Mail have resulted in letters not being delivered for weeks as staff struggle to keep up with the pressure.

Royal Mail staff have warned that missing and late letters are a frequent problem after postmen were forced to ditch their bicycles and shoulder bags in favour of heavy trolleys, some of which can weigh up to 120kg with a full load.

It is one of a raft of measures as part of an ongoing nationwide £2bn cost-cutting exercise by the company.

The changes have left five Trowbridge postmen signed off work with knee, leg and back injuries as well as stress as they compete against time to finish rounds that are taking twice as long to complete.

Managers have stepped in to deliver post themselves and spare postmen have been drafted in from as far away as Yeovil, Somerset, say workers who did not want to be named after they were warned not to talk to the press – or they would face the sack.

A postal worker, from Trowbridge, said: “It has been horrendous and now we have a lot of people with leg and back injuries which means rounds are being missed frequently. A lot of post is not getting out for days or even weeks sometimes.

“I used to love coming home and going for a run but I can’t do that now. I finish work and my legs hurt. It’s ridiculous.

“None of us are happy about it. Staff morale is really down. We have all said that it is the silliest decision they have ever made. It was obviously someone sat behind a desk who thought this would be a good idea. It is us on the ground who are now suffering.”

Another worker, who has been signed off work for several weeks, said: “The trolley is to blame for my injury. Not only that but we have to share a van between two postmen and getting the trolleys in and out of the van as you go along the round is hard work too especially when its a full load.

“We used to start out at the crack of dawn and be out on the round in the morning but because they had to pay us extra for working early hours they pushed it back so now you’ll be lucky to get out on the round by 10am.

“Most rounds last four hours and quite often you haven’t finished delivering because it is taking twice as long with the trolleys, so the mail is sent back to the office and you try and get it out the next day. This is happening over and over again and the backlog can be huge.”

Alan Williams, west Wiltshire’s representative for the Communication Workers Union, which represents postal workers, said: “The trolleys are designed to make it safer for the workforce by taking weight off the shoulder. The job is demanding and it is a difficult task to find the most ergonomic way of doing it.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to customers who may have experienced some disruption to service last week. This was due to exceptionally high levels of sick absence. These absences have absolutely nothing to do with recent operational changes that have taken place in Trowbridge.

“As we deliver fewer letters but more packets and parcels than we did in the past, the switch to vans and trolleys enables us to take the weight off staff's backs, we can reduce cycling accidents involving our staff, and we can eliminate the need to send out older, more polluting vans to replenish postmen and women by sending out all the mail, including parcels and special delivery, in one go.”