Shoppers waiting on last-minute Christmas presents to arrive from overseas may be a little disappointed as courier DHL has stopped delivering packages posted using its DHL Express’ road express traffic, just days before Christmas, due to the current situation at the Port of Dover.
DHL have confirmed that any parcels already within the UK system will still be delivered however due to it not having enough storage capacity, packages yet to make it to the UK will be returned to senders.
This comes on top of Royal Mail’s decision to scrap its Special Delivery Guarantee.
Letters and postcards to the UK and Ireland are not affected by the delivery suspension and if you have sent, or are expecting a parcel using the DHL Express’ Air Express or Time Definite International (TDI) service these should still arrive as the travel restrictions are placed on road travel and passenger aircraft with no impact on cargo flights.
A spokesperson for DHL said: “Due to the reported mutation of the coronavirus, various governments have restricted travel and connections with the United Kingdom. Currently for instance, the Eurotunnel is closed to passenger and freight traffic for at least 48 hours.
“The same applies to the ferry ports. Transport routes to Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are also affected by this interruption of transport connections. Air freight to and from Great Britain is currently not affected. However, we are closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the respective authorities.
“For our Post and Parcel unit, we are unfortunately forced to impose a complete delivery stop for business and private customer parcels as well as goods-bearing letters to Great Britain and Ireland with immediate effect until further notice.
“Unfortunately, due to a lack of storage capacity, we have to return consignments with goods content and bulky goods to the senders.”
