Town's post trials

A DECISION by Royal Mail to use Newhaven as a guinea pig in a cost-cutting pilot scheme will see the town's postal deliveries halved.

From spring, regular twice daily Monday to Saturday deliveries will be cut to just one.

Royal Mail has been hard hit by falling income as a result of increased competition from fax, e-mail and text messaging. Parent company Consignia has revealed its whole organisation's losses are running at 1million per day.

And now the industry watchdog Postcomm plans to open the most profitable elements of the postal market to competition.

Paul Meddleton, Royal Mail area manager for Newhaven, said: 'Under the licence issued to us by Postcomm last year, Royal Mail has a duty to provide a reliable universal service to every one of the UK's 28 million addresses, but it is costing us considerably more than the cost of a stamp to do this. Clearly, something has to be done. We very much hope that this pilot will help point the way forward.'

Nationwide

Newhaven will be one of only 14 areas nationwide, including East Manchester, Bow in London and Lanelli in Wales, where the scheme will be tested. Businesses which usually receive large amounts of mail will continue to receive an early delivery, before 9am, while homes will get theirs sometime between 9am and lunchtime.

The plan was greeted with caution in Newhaven.

The Mayor, Cllr David Fitton, was concerned for self employed people who relied on early morning deliveries. He said: 'This means some will not see the post until the end of the day. People working from home rely on getting cheques early in the morning. This is a backward step.'

Newhaven's MP Norman Baker said it was vital the pilot was implemented efficiently and that townsfolk and businesses were not inconvenienced in any way.

He said: 'Those of us like myself who are used to getting their post before work will have to wait longer to get it and may mean they don't until the next day.'

The MP was also anxious that residential addresses were not penalised at the expense of business. Royal Mail would face its fiercest competition in the business market sparking fears resources would be channelled from domestic deliveries.

Newhaven Chamber of Commerce president Norman Mayhew said: 'It is superb news if it guarantees first class mail will be delivered the next day. One service will be fine as long as it is good one.'

But it was vital customers' needs were taken into consideration by Consignia, something it had yet to do in Mr Mayhew's opinion. He added: 'With e-mail and private couriers, Royal Mail are losing their share because they don't listen to business.'