POSTAL chiefs deal with more than 30 complaints every day from angry customers in our area and the number is rocketing.

Figures obtained by The Press show Royal Mail received 11,806 complaints from the YO postal area in 2004/2005 up by almost a quarter on the previous year.

Residents and politicians hit out at the quality of the service. One councillor labelled it a "second-class service".

Industry watchdog Postwatch said the true problem was even greater, as many complaints were not formally logged. A spokeswoman said: "This is just the tip of the iceberg, and there's no way of knowing how deep it goes."

The figures for 2004/05 show Royal Mail received 4,152 complaints about lost mail; 1,656 about mis-delivery; 1,423 about delays; and 1,183 about redirection failure.

There were more than 500 about damaged mail, 191 about part loss of mail (for example, when items inside a parcel go missing), and 46 about "discourtesy."

Of the complaints, 52 per cent were upheld costing Royal Mail chiefs £124,180 in compensation.

In 2003/04, the compensation bill was £57,543.

Royal Mail insisted the situation was getting better, and predicted the figures for 2005/06 figures would show a marked improvement.

But City of York councillor Brian Watson said: "The service is a lot worse than it used to be, especially considering you do not get so many deliveries. It's nowhere near what it used to be, and I don't think you get value for money. It's a pretty scandalous situation really."

Selby district councillor Steve Shaw-Wright said: "We appear to be getting a second-class service compared to what we used to get. We used to have a good service, and it's gone down a lot recently."

Judith Donovan, chairwoman of Postwatch North, said: "More customers in the YO postcode area complained to Royal Mail in 2004/05 than in 2003/4 which was in line with the national trend for complaint levels.

"Since then, we have seen Royal Mail move into profit and standards of service for next day delivery of first-class mail improve. Postwatch is now awaiting the publication of Royal Mail's complaints data for 2005/06."

But a Postwatch spokesman said: "I do not think this increase has been common across the board."

Paul Clays, York representative of the Communication Workers' Union, said cuts had led to a decline in the service.

He said: "When you tinker with something that's running like a Rolls Royce, you end up with a Lada if you are not careful."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "The 2004/05 period was a period of unprecedented change in the service, which could be reflected in the changing figures."

He said the YO postcode area had recently returned record results for next day delivery of first-class mail, and he expected the 2005/06 figures to show an improvement.

Selby MP John Grogan said: "You have to wonder if the frequent changes in organisation by Post Office management are beginning to undermine the efforts of hardworking postmen and women."

Nationwide in 2004/05 Royal Mail received 1.8 million complaints, half of which were upheld, leading to a total compensation payout of £19.6 million.

Post Office hampered by a series of setbacks

TODAY'S figures represent the latest in a series of setbacks for mail chiefs.

Last week, we reported that postal workers in York could be set to join a national strike the first in a decade.

The Communication Workers' Union's (CWU) annual conference backed a call for industrial action unless the Royal Mail conceded to a series of demands on pay, pensions, working practices and privatisation.

The CWU fears Royal Mail could be planning a further 40,000 job cuts and is opposed to plans to give up to a fifth of the company's shares to the workforce. It is also concerned about Royal Mail's pension fund, which is more than £5 billion in deficit.

Widespread local post office closures in recent years have also angered many customers.

Last week, Bill Platt shut up shop in Wistow near Selby, saying his post office, which also sold groceries, was not "economically viable".

The Shipton-by-Beningbrough post office is due to close in August, due to the sub-postmaster resigning.

Earlier this month, we reported York post offices were backing a national campaign to save the popular Post Office Card Account. Heworth sub-postmaster Kenneth Slee said then: "For a lot of post offices, a large part of their income would be wiped out through this. It would definitely mean, ultimately, that there would be closures in the Post Office."

Postmen caught stealing

EARLIER this year, The Press reported the case of Gavin Lee Barker a thieving postman who stole more than 800 letters and parcels.

Barker, 20, of Horsman Avenue, York, was jailed in February for six months. York Crown Court heard he had stolen the post on March 26, 2005 three days after starting his job as a temporary postman through the agency Manpower.

The court heard he opened 354 packets, taking out a £20 note and two chequebooks, one of which he used to write a cheque to himself for £750, which he later cashed.

Prosecutor Sarah Barlow said 812 packages and letters were found abandoned, 354 of which had been opened.

Sentencing, the Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, said: "Years ago you would have been getting a sentence of two or three years, and many of us bemoan the fact that those days are gone."

The case followed that of Ian Christopher McKennan, 20, of Bell Farm Avenue, York, who stole money from birthday cards he was supposed to deliver.

McKennan was caught following an undercover sting by Royal Mail staff, who were alerted by a member of the public.

A woman had seen McKennan stuffing greeting cards into a litter bin on his round in November 2004.

McKennan pleaded guilty to three offences of stealing from the mail, but was spared jail. He admitted stealing £55 from different letters.