Dutch parcel delivery services are having difficulty keeping up with the flow of presents being ordered for next week’s Sinterklaas festivities, Dutch media said on Friday.

Consumers association Consumentenbond says it has had three to five times more complaints about late or missed deliveries this year compared with 2017.

PostNL spokeswoman Ellen Talsma told RTL Nieuws the company normally delivers 700,000 parcels a day, but that has now more than doubled. ‘Deliveries might take a little longer than normal but we are doing all we can to deliver parcels as soon as possible,’ she said.

Bart van Eijden, a consultant with IG&H, said the problem is down to a shortage of suitable workers. ‘There are too few lorry drivers, sorters and last mile drivers – the people who move the parcel from distribution centre to front door,’ he said.

Bol.com says it expects to ship out 20 million parcels in November and December – compared with just six million three years ago. ‘We always start our preparations in February or March and make agreements in advance with our partners such as PostNL,’ spokeswoman Roos Franssen said.

A spokesman for high street chain Hema told the Telegraaf that orders placed on Friday might not be delivered in time for the Sinterklaas festivities on Wednesday.