According to the NFRN, this latest upset came two weeks after a technical glitch on the Sunday edition of the Sun caused retailers to lose hundreds of thousands of copies of the newspaper.
Now the NFRN’s news operations committee is demanding answers. Its chairman, Alan Smith, said: “The publishers concerned may class these instances as unfortunate one-offs but the recent consolidation, resulting in publishers sharing lorries to transport copies to market, is not helping one bit. All we are seeing are further and worrying sales declines.
“It’s time for publishers to get a grip. They have got to look again at their delivery times into wholesale, as well as urgently reviewing their contingency plans when problems like these two technical glitches arise.”
Mr Smith also called for quicker restitution for retailers affected by late deliveries.
“The process for claiming restitution is cumbersome, limited and long-winded, while a refund of just 10p for non receipt of goods is, quite frankly, an embarrassment. The whole claims process is in urgent need of an overhaul. The NPA must take its head out of the sand and take steps to ensure that all elements of the supply chain are correctly compensated when service levels fall so far short.”
