ANGER over the postal service in our region has seen complaints to the leading industry watchdog soar, The Press can reveal.

Postwatch, the organisation which monitors postal services, was inundated with formal complaints from unhappy customers in York and North and East Yorkshire. Earlier this week, The Press reported that Royal Mail received nearly 12,000 complaints from the YO postal area in 2004/05 up by almost a quarter from 2003/04. Today we can reveal complaints to Postwatch increased at an even greater rate in the same period rising by 86 per cent.

Customers can only complain to the watchdog once they have gone through Royal Mail's own complaints procedure, meaning the actual number of complaints is significantly lower.

In 2003/04, Postwatch received 355 complaints, but in 2004/05 this increased to 661. Among the largest increases were complaints over alleged theft, which rose from three in 2003/04 to 15 the following year.

Complaints over damaged mail rose from 18 to 25, delayed delivery complaints increased from 16 to 34, while complaints about lost mail went up from 81 to 118.

Postwatch also received an increased number of complaints about Royal Mail's handling of grievances.

In 2003/04, there were 20 complaints about "inadequate or inaccurate responses". By 2004/05 this had risen to 54. And complaints over "inadequate redress" rose from 19 to 27.

Postwatch spokesperson Daryl Barrett said: "People can only come to Postwatch if they have been to Royal Mail already. If they are still not satisfied, and they still have the strength to keep going, they can come to us."

Fellow spokesperson Mike Jones said they were expecting the 2005/06 figures to show a decline in the number of complaints.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "The 2005/06 figures will not be published until the end of June, but all the signals at the moment are that we will see a significant decline."

Selby MP John Grogan said: "I very much hope that the extra investment agreed by the Government recently with Royal Mail to provide modern high-quality sorting facilities will enable the Royal Mail in York to improve their performance over the next year."