I FEEL strongly compelled to respond to Margaret Ellis (Letters, October 16) regarding alleged poor service from the Post Office.

While it is highly inconvenient to not receive letters and packages when they are expected, let us be honest; out of the millions the post office handles a day, it is quite rare they don't arrive.

How often is it that letters and packages are received the next day, delivered promptly and by someone who has been toiling through the night to sort the letters while we are still asleep and then has the task of walking the streets in all weathers to ensure you have them? All of this for under 30p per letter!

As Jack Dee says "Take it yourself then; see how far you get with a 30p train ticket!"

Can we not, for once, be quicker to praise people for the jobs they do correctly than be vitriolic when things occasionally go wrong? It is not easy for any business to be both profitable and value for money, but I feel that the Post Office does just that.

If you lived in France or Spain you would realise the British postal system, by comparison, is a marvel of efficiency, one that should be appreciated, supported and held on to, not to be shot at when something goes wrong.

Rachael Baldwin,

The Cottage,

High Street,

Barton-le-Street,

Malton.

Updated: 10:50 Tuesday, October 26, 2004