A YORK resident today slammed the Royal Mail for delivering her post seven hours later than it used to.

Jennifer Wallace, of Markham Crescent, said her mail is consistently delivered after midday, despite assurances from the Royal Mail that all post across York would be delivered by that time.

Mrs Wallace's mail has also been delivered to an empty house in her street on two occasions in the last few days.

She said: "We used to get our post at 7am and now we are frequently getting it at 2pm, when I have gone out for the rest of the day.

"Before they introduced the changes, we were told that we would be receiving an improved service. But, far from abolishing the second post, they have in fact succeeded in abolishing the first post."

Mrs Wallace wrote to the Royal Mail depot in Leeman Road six weeks ago about the problems, but has yet to receive a response. She said her telephone complaints were met with "a patronising complacency" from staff.

"Everyone I speak to says 'What's the point of complaining? Nothing will be done.' They are just going to grin and bear it," she said.

Mrs Wallace has now contacted York MP Hugh Bayley about the problem.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail told the Evening Press: "It seems that the letter was not passed to our customer services department, for whatever reason.

"It will now be given to a customer service advisor and a reply prepared as soon as possible."

The single daily delivery was introduced in January, after it was found that the second delivery accounted for 20 per cent of Royal Mail's costs, but made up only four per cent of the mailbag.

But within days York's business leaders were demanding high-level talks with postal bosses after the changes caused chaos throughout the city.

Improvements were made to the service following the meeting, but businesses are continuing to monitor the situation.

A report this week from the consumer group Postwatch claimed that more than 14 million items of post went missing each year, and more than half of these were delivered to the wrong address.

Have you had problems with your post? Phone Evening Press reporter Alex Lloyd on 01904 653051 ext 306.

Updated: 10:33 Friday, May 07, 2004