A most expensive millimetre

IF you want to generate debate, praise the Post Office, writes Peter Rhodes

A recent paean of praise from one reader brings this seething riposte from another:

" I had a landmark birthday last month and actually received a card from Royal Mail. It invited me to call at the sorting office and pay them £1.12 for not delivering a birthday card from my brother."

Turns out the card was decorated with a shirt button which made it too thick - by 1mm - to be classed as a normal letter.

Birthday Boy calculates that just over 0.28 per cent of the card was "oversize". The total bill from the Post Office was £1.58, more than the card was worth.