Post Office may charge to deliver mail early

The Post Office is planning a major overhaul of its delivery services which could see customers charged an annual fee to ensure that mail is delivered early, it emerged today.

Consignia, the new name for the Post Office, is considering charging customers an annual fee to deliver their post before 9.30am. But it denied that a fee of #50 was being considered.

The shake-up could also see the second post, in which three million letters are delivered, scrapped. Customers might be given the option of collecting mail on their way to work.

A spokesman said: “We’re considering a whole range of proposals to bring added-value beyond the cost of a stamp.

“Customers may also be able to e-mail us to ask for their letters to be re-routed if they are working away from home.

“The second mail is a bit expendable in some ways as only three million out of 80 million items are delivered every day during it.”

The company has come under pressure recently because it is falling below the Government target of delivering 92.1% of its first-class mail by the following morning.

Recent official figures show that Consignia is delivering between 75% and 86% of first-class mail the next day.

The company has also seen profits drain away from #550 million five years ago to a #3 million loss this year.

It recently floated proposals to shed 15,000 jobs from its 160,000 workforce as part of a #1.2 billion cost-cutting drive.