Late post has resulted in a retired man missing an important eye operation.

Barry Howe, of Fencepiece Road, Hainault did not receive a letter scheduling his cataract operation until the day he should have been there.

The 63-year-old was contacted by the Queen’s Hospital, Rom Valley Way, Romford to ask why he hadn’t turned up for his operation.

They informed him he had missed his appointment at 9am on August 1 and had been removed from the waiting list.

He said: “The reason I wasn’t there was because I didn’t receive the letter until after I was supposed to be there. I am now back at the bottom of the list.

“The problem has been going on for two months with post arriving at unpredictable and odd times including Sundays and 7pm in the evening.”

Mr Howe, who took early retirement for medical reasons from his job as a bus driver, has been waiting for 14 months for the operation.

He added: “It is so awkward and annoying. I have the condition in my left eye and I’ve nearly been run over in the past because of it.”

Royal Mail spokeswoman Sally Hopkins said: “We are concerned to hear of this resident’s experience but it is difficult to say what exactly happened to this item of mail without seeing it.

“All mail for delivery to households in Ilford is being delivered every day. If customers have any queries about their post, they should contact our customer service team on 08457 740 740 so that we can investigate.”