Post set to be delivered in the afternoon

Hundreds of people in Wolverhampton and parts of South Staffordshire may not get their mail until the afternoon under changes to delivery routes announced today.

Royal Mail has blamed falling numbers of letters for the decision.

The organisation, which is losing £2 million a week, today pledged to continue to deliver in the morning and for a longer period during the day.

But it warned some people would get post later because some who were previously at the start of a route will now find themselves at the end.

The company has imposed a deadline on itself of delivering all its post by 3pm.

The changes affect the WV1, WV2, WV3, WV4, WV9, WV10 and WV13 postcode areas, which also include a number of villages in South Staffordshire including Brewood, Coven, Featherstone and Essington.

The changes also reflect the use of new trollies bought in because postmen and women are delivering more heavy parcels than they used to due to the rise of online shopping.

Wolverhampton City Council leader Roger Lawrence said: "The days of getting the post before people leave for work have been over for a while but Royal Mail needs to consult with businesses. We are trying to attract people to invest in the city and want first-rate services for them."

Royal Mail's collections and delivery sector manager, Roy Sylvester said: "These changes to our delivery routes mean that members of our local and experienced team will still be delivering to our customers in Wolverhampton."

He added that the local delivery team was "fully committed" to providing a friendly, reliable and high-quality service.