A NUMBER of online shoppers claim their orders have never arrived - despite being told by the delivery company they had been handed over and signed for.

Parcels intended for clients have gone missing amid accusations of CCTV evidence proving nobody visited one house for an hour either side of the time a delivery was said to have been made.

A spokeswoman for the delivery company Hermes said it had a highly successful delivery rate but declined to comment on "unsubstantiated rumour and accusations".

Bethan Turner is still waiting for a £20 pair of gloves she ordered and Hermes claims arrived at her home in Monkton Heathfield.

She said: "I was in the house and my husband was outside washing the car when they say my parcel was delivered.

"They said I'd signed for it, but we never saw anyone and it's not my signature.

"It's frustrating. I'm not giving up hope, but it's a massive hassle trying to sort it out.

"I've heard of other people in the area getting confirmation their parcel's been delivered and they haven't seen it."

Shane Griffiths, who lives in the same village, received confirmation his £100 wallet had arrived at 5pm on Friday and been signed for, when he and his wife were out.

He said: "When I got home, I checked my e-mails and it said it had been delivered at 5pm, but there was no sign of it.

"I went back through the footage on our security cameras for an hour either side of that and no-one came to the front or the back of the house during that time.

"I'd think twice about ordering anything online in future if I was told my delivery was being carried out by these guys."

Dozens of people responded to a tweet from Mr Griffiths saying they had experienced similar problems of orders failing to arrive.

Ritchie Cridge, also of Monkton Heathfield, had slightly better luck with Hermes when ordering a vegan box back in May.

He said: "It eventually turned up five months later."

Kit O'Brien said she had been informed earlier this year that a delivery had arrived and been signed for at her home near Taunton, even though only her cats were home at the time.

A Hermes spokeswoman said: "The Hermes network continues to operate well across all regions following the Black Friday weekend, which saw an unprecedented surge in sales for our retail customers.

"Last week we successfully delivered 13million parcels across the country and we will be delivering seven days a week until Christmas.

"Our successful delivery rate currently stands at 98 per cent, so we do not believe that these Twitter comments reflect the service we are providing.

"We would urge any customers experiencing delivery issues to contact the retailer/seller in line with industry practice."

She added: "Without the details of the specific incidents we can’t be expected to comment on that as it is just unsubstantiated rumour and accusations."