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DUP Economy Minister Diane Dodds has written to Michael Gove calling for “urgent action to be taken” on deliveries to Northern Ireland.

It comes as firms such as homeware giant Dunelm suspended all deliveries to the Province, whilst there was also disruption to some parcel deliveries from firms including DPD.

Mrs Dodds’ has penned an open letter to Mr Gove – a prominent Brexiteer who holds the powerful post of minister for the Cabinet Office – in which she lamented the current situation, as well as the uncertainty that awaits from April 1, when the rules may change again.

She wrote: “Over the last number of weeks we have seen numerous GB-based retailers withdraw from offering deliveries to Northern Ireland due to the lack of guidance.

“On regulatory issues we have seen retailers of plants, food and drink ceasing to offer products for delivery in Northern Ireland due to increased costs.”

The situation around postal services is quite complex.

But fundamentally it boils down to this:

Under the heading ‘If you are a customer of an express carrier or Royal Mail’ the government’s official website says: “If you are a Northern Ireland resident, you can continue to receive goods from Great Britain as you usually do, with no new requirements.”

However, if it is a business-to-business package worth £135-plus, there is new paperwork.

And when it comes to moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland after April 1, the government says only that details “will be published in due course”.

Mrs Dodds added: “Delivery of goods is an essential measure at the moment, and lack of delivery places Northern Ireland consumers in a much worse position compared to GB consumers.”

She demanded that the government “urgently engage with retailers and marketplaces to seek reinstatement of delivery to Northern Ireland,” as well as addressing “the regulatory barriers which have caused delivery for some products to be halted” – and come up with a post-April 1 plan to keep trade with NI open.

Diane Dodds demands action as deliveries from GB to NI suffer