Fewer letters lost, more parcels pinched

Some 280,000 letters handled by the Royal Mail go astray every week - a 50 per cent improvement on last year, said the company.

Research commissioned by the Royal Mail revealed the number of items lost or substantially delayed has gone down from 500,000 to 280,000 a week, representing 0.07 per cent of the 21 billion letters handled each year.

Chief executive Adam Crozier said: "Our people should take the credit. However, every single letter is important so there's a lot more to do."

The Royal Mail said it delivered about 15 million incorrectly addressed letters a week. However, campaign group Postwatch claimed the number of lost letters was "much higher" because a substantial number of errors were not recorded.

A spokesman added: "More than 1.5 million parcels were stolen from doorsteps last year, an increase of more than 600,000 on the previous year."

The Royal Mail said: "Our people should never leave items on doorsteps but the overwhelming majority of our postmen and women are delivering correctly."