Pay- for-post flops

NOT a single person in Newhaven has agreed to pay for a guaranteed early morning postal delivery.

Three, however, have decided to collect their own mail themselves from the sorting office at no charge.

Newhaven is one of 14 test sites across the country where the majority of people will now have just one postal delivery some time between 9am and lunchtime. Only businesses receiving more than 20 letters a day will get their post delivered between 7am and 9am.

A Consignia spokeswoman told the Express: 'Three people have signed up to the free mail collect where they can pick up their mail themselves from the sorting office at 8.30am. There have been no takers to pay to have their mail delivered before 9.30am.'

She added: 'The fact we have had no takers means customers are quite happy with their deliveries between 9.30am and lunch time.'

Consignia will leaflet all addresses in Newhaven over the coming weeks to remind people that the mail can be delivered earlier if the fee is paid.

The pilot areas where the charges have been introduced include: Crawley, West Sussex; Bow, East London; Edinburgh Dell; Sheringham, Norfolk; East Manchester; Llanelli, Wales; Newbury, Berks; Loughborough, Leicestershire; Halifax, West Yorkshire; Plymouth, Devon; Ballymena, Northern Ireland; Thirsk, North Yorkshire; St Helens, Merseyside.

Reports have suggested that just one person nationwide has decided to pay for the early morning delivery.

Consignia, Royal Mail's parent company recently announced an annual loss of 1.1 billion and believes the changes will save it about 350 million and provide a more consistent service.

Throughout the Royal Mail organisation 17,000 jobs will be axed. In Newhaven, 10 part-time posts will go.

The new pilot delivery scheme has introduced a new way of working for local postmen and women called Starburst. This involves teams, of up to five, going out on deliveries by van together and posting mail to addresses in 20-minute bursts.