SHAMBLES

Royal Mail has been reduced to a second-class service by a massive belt-tightening exercise.

Postmen are failing to deliver on time after sweeping changes introduced by Royal Mail have the service into a shambles the Daily Echo can reveal.

Companies are struggling to cope as vital deliveries containing cheques, orders and contracts are being pushed through their letterboxes days late or not at all.

Members of the public have called the Daily Echo in droves saying they have not been receiving mail for days on end then having an entire week's worth land on the doormat all at once.

The problems have arisen since the second post was scrapped.

Bosses at Royal Mail have dismissed the crisis as a "teething problem".

They have claimed the situation will "bed down" over the next fortnight as postmen adjust to new delivery routes and technology.

A company spokesmen added that there have also been "two or three voluntary redundancies" in each of south Hampshire's ten sorting offices.

Meanwhile, business leaders are being told they can still guarantee their post in the morning - but only if they pay £2,500 a year for the privilege.

It is not the first time a cost-cutting exercise by the Royal Mail has lumbered Hampshire residents with a second-class service.

In 1999 the Daily Echo launched a Postwatch campaign when staffing shortages caused mail to be delivered four or five days after it was posted.

Now Hampshire residents are facing the same uncertainty.

Business leaders have threatened to sue for loss of earnings if the problems carry on.

Company heads are being told the only way they can guarantee morning delivery is to sign up to the Early Delivery service - at a cost of more than £2,500 a year.

Graham Ellis, treasurer of the Federation of Small Businesses Hampshire branch, said: "It's absolutely diabolical. Royal Mail have been good in the past but this is just a complete shambles."

Mr Ellis is vowing to lobby MPs, demand meetings with senior Post Office management and campaign alongside other company bosses to put an end to the mail mayhem.

He said: "It's quite disgraceful. This hasn't been thought through. It hasn't been managed properly. Saying the problem is temporary is no good if you're losing money.

"We'll definitely be lobbying MPs. We're aiming to start a national campaign. There's a likelihood we'll go for some sort of compensation for lost orders or the loss of interest on our accounts because of payments delivered late."

Mr Ellis is not the only person suffering from late mail.

An e-mail he sent to 1,500 members of the FSB around the county received 100 responses in two days - with the vast majority agreeing the current postal service is unacceptable.

Jeremy White, of White Sails, Warsash, said five cheques had gone missing since the new working practices were introduced in February and March.

He said: "Not only has the post been late but we chased people who had not paid their bills. Much to our embarrassment they had sent cheques but they had never reached us.

"This happened with five customers. It makes you wonder what else we missed out on."

Another business director was told the only way he could be guaranteed to have his delivery in the morning - as he has had for the past 12 years - was if he paid for the £220-a-month Early Delivery service.

Mike Rudder, of Shirley-based Airlynx Coaches, said: "That's outrageous for a small business. Customers are paying for the mail to get to us and we've still got to pay for it."

Hampshire politicians John Denham, Alan Whitehead and Sandra Gidley have all reported how their post has been badly delayed.

John Denham, labour MP for Southampton Itchen, was also told he would have to pay through the nose to have his mail when he has always had it in the past.

He said: "We were told the only way we could guarantee a morning service was to pay £2,500 a year, which is an extraordinary amount of money.

"It's the sheer unpredictability of when the mail is going to come that's the real problem.

"People could adjust if it was consistent but it's not at all.

"I've written on behalf of my constituents and myself to the head of Royal Mail saying that the service is unacceptable.

"I'm going to see what response I get to that. It's something I could well raise with ministers. They are not directly responsible for the mail but it's a way of putting pressure on."

Sandra Gidley, liberal democrat MP for Romsey, has also been inundated with complaints from furious constituents.

She said: "I think it's more fundamental than teething problems - they've completely changed the way they're working.

"Customers expect a certain level of service and it's falling sadly short of that.

"If there's a resource problem I will be putting pressure on the government in the House of Commons. The quality of service has been cut too much to justify the savings the new system will produce."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said the abolition of the second post, forecast to cut company expenses by a fifth, will mean the post will always arrive later than it used to.

Previously postmen worked to a deadline of 9.30am for delivery of the first post.

Now guidelines dictates it will arrive between 9.30am and 12.30pm.

But he said the current "lack of consistency" would resolve itself in no more than a fortnight.

Staff are coping with different rounds, new technology and around 30 voluntary redundancies across South Hampshire, an area including sorting offices in Winchester, Totton, Shirley, Romsey, Lymington, Hythe, Hedge End, Eastleigh, Bitterne Manor and Sarisbury Green.

No direct steps were being taken to hurry up the changeover process between the working practices, he said.

He said: "We've got to get the mail out later - that's the simple answer. These are the biggest changes we've introduced in recent history."

A spokeswoman for the Communication Workers' Union said: "It could just be teething problems."

Frustrated residents are urged to report problems to Royal Mail's Single Delivery Helpline on 0845 6024536.

Alternatively, customers can contact the industry watchdog Postwatch on 0845 6013 265, by writing to Freepost, Postwatch or by e-mailing info@postwatch.co.uk

What do you think? Either write to the Daily Echo at Newspaper House, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton, SO16 9JX, e-mail

newsdesk@soton-echo.co.uk or ring reporter David Newble on 023 8042 4503