Royal Mail says the mistake was caused by human error

About 90 houses in Comberton were left without deliveries in the past week.

On Tuesday, a Royal Mail spokeswoman said managers had forgotten to organise cover for the absent postman's round.

But village postmaster Vijay Patel said he thought staff shortages were to blame for the lack of mail deliveries, not human error.

"One round was not covered for a week because a postman was away," said the Royal Mail spokeswoman.

'Compensation policy'

"It was a mistake caused by human error. It should not have happened and we apologise.

"We have sent staff to clear the backlog and everything is now back to normal.

"The problem was not caused by staff shortages, but an error.

"We have a compensation policy and anyone who wants to talk to us about compensation should get in touch."

Mr Patel, who has run the post/sorting office in Comberton for five years, said mail had piled up and customers had been complaining.

"There's been a problem for about a week to 10 days, because a postman has been on holiday and his round has not been covered," said Mr Patel.

"It's not the whole of the village that's been affected. I would say about 90 houses did not get mail.