Christmas items sent by Royal Mail are increasingly unlikely to arrive at their destinations, new research has revealed.

An investigation conducted by People.co.uk has uncovered the fact that one in six cards sent via the postal provider fail to appear and others can take up to ten days to get where they are going.

As the website says: "Our findings make a mockery of the Royal Mail's pledge to 'deliver a great Christmas for our customers'."

In the study, the researchers sent out 198 cards to ten places across the country and followed their progress over a two-week period.

During that time, 30 failed to reach their destinations and 46 per cent that went out in the first class post did not get there in the target time of between one and two days.

It was found that, 35 per cent of the time, an item posted by second class either arrived at the same time or quicker than first class mail.

In related news, the Press Association recently reported that the bad weather this week has seen Royal Mail delays occur.

Author:  Gillian Walters