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Courier accused of abandoning Borders villages

Getty Images Two boxed parcels on a doorstep with a black door in the backgroundGetty Images
In the two weeks up to Christmas, villagers in Coldingham and St Abbs say they waited in vain for parcel deliveries from Evri

A coastal community in the Scottish Borders is counting the cost of online shopping after a courier company struggled to deliver parcels in the run up to Christmas.

Villagers in Coldingham and St Abbs spent much of December turning detective in a bid to track down the hundreds of parcels they say have gone missing.

While couriers such as Royal Mail and DHL delivered regularly to the villages, no items being carried by Evri reached either community after 11 December.

A spokeswoman for Evri told BBC Scotland: "We've been exceptionally busy in the area and there are some localised delays for which we apologise."

A blonde-haired woman sitting within a hall, wearing a pink jumper and grey open jacket. In the background are Christmas decorations.
One of Kath Easton's missing parcels contained items for the village church's nativity play.

More than 40 villagers from St Abbs and neighbouring Coldingham have contacted BBC Scotland news about non-deliveries by Evri in the two weeks leading up to Christmas.

Those who managed to raise their issues with the company's customer support service were told their items are either "lost in the network" or are listed as "being delivered".

Janet Eddington from Coldingham had waited at her home after she was alerted that her parcel would be delivered on the evening of 23 December.

She said: "I waited between 19:30 and 20:30 on the parcel arriving as was indicated on the tracker, but nothing ever arrived.

"Then on 30 December I got an alert saying my parcel had been delivered on the 23rd at 20:00, which it clearly hadn't.

"My son has also lost two parcels that were likely gifts for us at Christmas."

Former teacher Kath Easson lost family gifts and a parcel containing items for the village church's nativity play.

"The resources for the nativity play never arrived," she said.

"Another parcel from my son contained a lot of presents for my grandchildren, their parents and myself and my husband.

"My son is really upset as he puts in a lot of effort to find unique gifts and wrap them beautifully."

Walter Baxter A small village of grey and red-roofed houses above a harbour, with the sea in the foregroundWalter Baxter
The neighbouring villages of St Abbs (above) and Coldingham never received any deliveries by Evri in the fortnight before Christmas

Due to the rural setting of Coldingham and St Abbs most of the 700 or so residents rely on online shopping.

Evri had provided a reliable service to both villages until changes were made to delivery routes about a fortnight before Christmas.

The company confirmed that a replacement courier was brought in to cover the coastal area north of Eyemouth during the Christmas rush but they have been unable to explain why no parcels have reached either village.

Alice Snowdon was one of the dozens of villagers who have been left angry and frustrated trying to locate missing items.

She said: "There has been no transparency - some are officially lost and others have been given backtracked delivery dates when they have clearly never been delivered.

"Where are all our parcels? We are talking about hundreds of parcels that have not been delivered to our villages."

A woman with long dark hair, red top and purple jacket standing in front of a wood-panelled wall
Alice Snowdon wants to know what has happened to the hundreds of parcels that have gone missing

Since being formed around 50 years ago in Yorkshire, Evri has grown to become one of the largest courier companies in the UK.

They currently have more than 20,000 drivers delivering items across the country, as well as 16,000 parcel shops.

A spokesperson said that of the 800-million parcels they will have handled this year, 99% were delivered successfully on time.

They added: "Our ambition is that every customer's experience is a positive one and we're sorry to hear reports from customers in the local area who have not received their parcels."