London has worst 10 areas for mail

London has the worst 10 postal delivery areas in the country, new figures show today.

East London has the least reliable service. One in five first-class post items failed to arrive by the next day from April to December.

At least 15 per cent of firstclass mail was late over the same period in the UB, WC, SW, HA, W, N, NW, SE and EN post codes.

Across the capital the Royal Mail only managed to deliver 83.3 per cent of firstclass mail on time for the six months from April to September - well short of the 92.1 per cent target set by the regulator, Postcomm.

Consignia, the Royal Mail's parent company, failed to hit any of its 13 national performance targets for the financial year to date.

Consumer body Postwatch said Consignia directors should lose their bonuses if the poor performance levels continue for the remainder of the year as expected. The loss-making company, set to announce up to 30,000 job cuts next week as part of a £1.2 billion cost-cutting package, faces heavy fines if it misses its targets.

Consignia is already under pressure over poor industrial relations and a controversial end to early and second deliveries.