Post 3 days a week...and more price pain

Fury over shock Ofcom proposals

- GRAHAM HISCOTT

FAILING Royal Mail could be allowed to reduce letter deliveries to just three days a week.

Regulator Ofcom yesterday set out options to help the privatised service slash costs. The current six-days-aweek letter delivery service could be cut to five or even just three, it said.

Those wanting important items to arrive the next day would have to shell out for a revamped first-class service.

But that is likely to cost a lot more than the current £1.25 stamp price.

Royal Mail, privatised by the Tory-led coalition in 2013, has been lobbying hard to axe Saturday letter deliveries.

The number of letters sent has halved from 14 billion in 2011/12 to seven billion last financial year.

Most are "bulk" mail sent by firms, the NHS and others, which can already take five days or more. The Daily Mirror first revealed the possibility of three-days-a-week deliveries last September.