I WAS concerned to see the letter printed in Points of View headed "Postal service not good."

Unfortunately, the correspondent's name and address had been withheld and so I am unable to either respond directly. If the writer contacts me at the address shown I would be happy to look into specific matters raised.

However, I would welcome the opportunity to answer some of the more general comments about the postal service through your columns. Firstly, let me set the record straight about the service we offer now compared with 50 years ago. Your correspondent refers to posting a letter one day and receiving a reply the next during war-time. In those days Royal Mail only handled a fraction of the mail we process today. We now deal with 75 million items daily and volumes continue to increase all the time; yet according to independent surveys we deliver more than 90% of first class mail the day after posting.

Prices have remained stable for 33 months - the longest period for 40 years - and although there will be some changes next month first class postage will be frozen at 26p and second class will be reduced by 1p.

We constantly strive to improve the service we offer customers and we have measures in place which will ensure we operate as efficiently as possible. We are currently making substantial investments in the most modern technology to speed up the flow of mail. For example, the very latest high-speed mail handling equipment being installed at our major processing centres - including Manchester - is capable of sorting letters at 30,000 per hour.

We have also invested heavily in our distribution network and only recently opened a new £20 million rail terminal at Warrington to serve the North West.

We are already seeing the impact of this investment and Royal Mail's service is measured as being among the best in Europe. But we know we can do even better and we will continue to do all we can to respond to the needs of our customers.

PAUL BERWICK

Area Manager, Royal Mail,

2 Weston Road, Crewe CW1 6AA

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.