Yodel says all parcels due to be delivered before Christmas are out for delivery today

Delays could continue this week after spike in demand for online goods

Christmas presents (PA)

A delivery firm has apologised again to customers for delays in deliveries, after a huge spending rush from customers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Yodel said delays could continue this week after the spike in demand for online goods.

Last week it said a backlog following some of the busiest shopping days of the year had been cleared, and insists it is operating a "normal" service for the Christmas period.

But executive chairman Dick Stead said some delays are inevitable for reasons such as poor packaging and inaccessible properties.

A number of customers have disregarded the firm's claim services were running as normal for this time of year, with one describing it as "absolute nonsense".

Last night Mr Stead apologised to those having to wait on overdue parcels and advised customers seeking compensation to contact their retailer, "as we do not have sight of their transaction or agreement", The Mirror reported.

“Unfortunately delays on some parcels are inevitable for a number of reasons, whatever the time of year, regardless of carrier or service they are sent on,” he said.

Delays could be caused by a number of different reasons, he added, ranging from address queries to traffic accidents.

However, Mr Stead later told The Independent the company has no backlog on deliveries.

He said: “We have been delivering around a million parcels a day in the run up to Christmas. Our sort and service centres are working to plan and all parcels that are due to be delivered before Christmas are out for delivery today."

Deliveries will continue until 9pm today and resume on 27 December, Mr Stead added.

Amazon said orders are being delivered within the normal time frame, while Argos said home delivery service for products in stock “is running normally”.

Tesco said a only a small number of their deliveries are handled by Yodel, meaning customers would be unaffected.

It added: “Everything is running smoothly thanks to the incredible work of more than 13,000 Tesco colleagues in distribution centres and our 10,000 van drivers.”

People with deliveries pending are advised to track their parcels on the website myyodel.co.uk.

Additional reporting by PA