RM delivers third worst postal service in North Staffs

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Royal Mail delivers third worst postal service in North Staffordshire http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/st ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NORTH Staffordshire has the third worst postal service in mainland Britain.

Latest Royal Mail figures show just 85.9 per cent of first-class mail was delivered the next day across the ST postcode area between April and June.

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'CASH SAVING EXERCISE': Union rep Lee Barron
That is below the 91.5 per cent area target and the national average of 93.1 per cent.

Union leaders today blamed the falling performance on the impact of the closure of Royal Mail's Leek Road sorting office in Stoke.

It means mail is now sorted in Wolverhampton before being brought back to North Staffordshire for delivery.

Communication Workers' Union Midlands regional secretary Lee Barron said: "There was always going to be an impact when Royal Mail closed the sorting office.

"That's why we opposed the move then and why we still oppose it now.

"If you post a letter to Stoke-on-Trent or Staffordshire, it's going to go to Wolverhampton before it is sent out, often back to the same area where it was posted.

"Modernising a business doesn't always translate to improving a service. It has been a cash-saving exercise."

The latest figures show only Guildford and Kingston-upon-Thames had a worse postal service over the three months.

But performance did improve in South Cheshire, which no longer has claim to having mainland Britain's worst postal service.

The CW postcode area hit rock bottom last year when just 85.4 per cent of first-class mail was delivered on time.

Royal Mail partly blamed the performance on the coldest December in a century.

But union officials blamed that performance on mail being sorted in Warrington following the closure of Crewe's sorting office.

Latest figures for the CW postcode area show 89.3 per cent of first-class mail arrived on time – up 3.1 per cent from the previous three months.

Royal Mail says the statistics show that nationally the firm is hitting its targets.

Paul Jobling, Royal Mail's Regional Operations Director for the Midlands region, said: "The most recent above-target results are encouraging and reflect the determination of our staff to deliver the best possible service."

But residents today questioned Royal Mail's decision to close the area's two sorting offices.

Paul Harvison, aged 32, of Ipstones, said: "I don't think you can rely on the postal service.

"I've had first-class letters which had not turned up for a couple of days."

Paul Hassall, aged 40, of Micklewright Avenue, Crewe, said: "It was obvious that the postal service was going to get worse when the Crewe depot at Weston Road closed."

[Straight4ward]

Lets hear it for Guildford and Kingston upon Thames.

Well done lads!

[staffordtigers]

Lets hear it for Guildford and Kingston upon Thames.

Well done lads!

lol