How letters posted across the Midlands fared

SEVEN out of ten letters posted for an Evening Mail survey arrived less than 24 hours later – dispelling fears that Consignia runs a ‘second-class’ service.

A random sample of letters posted across the Midlands showed Consignia is fighting back hard against its critics.

The Mail revealed last week that second mail deliveries to thousands of Midland addresses had been scrapped over Christmas following a huge seasonal increase in volumes.

Just two out of 34 delivery offices across the Birmingham postcode district are currently operating the second delivery as Consignia faces a mountain of Christmas mail.

The Evening Mail decided to put Consignia to a festive test – and found the troubled mail group almost up to scratch.

Seven letters posted at 12 noon on December 20 in Tamworth, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield, West Bromwich, Redditch, Birmingham city centre and London all arrived at Harborne by 11.30am on December 21.

Three others posted in Harborne, Moseley and Solihull arrived in Harborne by 10am on December 22.

Birmingham Royal Mail spokesman Richard Hall said the survey showed Consignia was reaching the majority of its targets at the busiest time of year.

‘The results are a testament to the efforts of all employees across Birmingham who have worked extremely hard to ensure post continues to be delivered on time.’

Consignia handles around 18.5 million items of mail a week across the Birmingham postcode district over the festive period compared with the usual 12 million a week.

Complaints about Britain’s postal system have reached almost two million a year.

Consignia is currently receiving around 500 complaints an hour – equivalent to the number logged by the German postal service over an entire year.

‘The results give a fair indication that despite the huge volume of mail handled at this time of year we are managing to get the vast majority delivered by our target of next day.’