£14 a week for the early post

Outrage is growing today over the Royal Mail's announcement that householders and small businesses will have to pay £14 a week if they want their post delivered before 9am.

The Tory leadership was using the delivery of a petition to Downing Street by shadow trade and industry secretary John Whittingdale this morning as an early opportunity to register massive public opposition to the charge.

The petition is about fears over the future of thousands of rural sub-post offices.

Matthew Knowles, policy adviser at the British Chambers of Commerce, said of the £14 charge: "We have made it clear this is unacceptable."

The proposal is to impose the financial penalty on people who want to continue receiving an early post if they get fewer than 20 letters a day. If they do not pay they will only receive their post by noon or have to collect it themselves from sorting offices. It has been condemned as "absolutely disgraceful" and a "loaded gun held to the head of small firms".

The move is part of Royal Mail plans to save £1.4 billion over three years and is seen as a major step towards just one daily delivery.

Mr Whittingdale said: "Many small firms rely on the Royal Mail for their cash flow and their orders and cannot afford to wait until lunchtime for a delivery.

"This extra charge represents a significant additional cost and flies in the face of the assurances that have been given that those who need to receive mail in the morning will be able to do so."

Liberal Democrat trade spokesman Vince Cable said: "Large numbers of small businesses do not use large volumes of mail, but are nonetheless highly dependent on prompt and early delivery."

Mail has been delivered to homes across the country for the price of a stamp since 1840.

The £14 charge scheme is to be piloted from next week in 14 areas, including Crawley, West Sussex, and Bow in east London.

Angry businessmen today warned they would be looking at alternatives to the Royal Mail. "I can't tell you what I think about these proposals because I'm not allowed to do it on the air," John Killgower, chairman of the Dumfries and Galloway Federation of Small Businesses, told the Today programme on Radio4.

A spokesman for Age Concern said: "The post is very important to many elderly people, particularly those in isolated areas who rely on it rather than emails for contact."

But industry regulator Postwatch backed the pilot scheme. Chairman Peter Carr said: "It's quite right for Royal Mail to examine every option to improve its profitability.

"There can be no sacred cows. So many costs are linked to providing daily deliveries that it is the obvious area to look at."

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith was today visiting a sub-post office in Briantspuddle, Dorset, to highlight fears that thousands of local branches may be forced to close.