POSTAL regulator Postcomm is warning Oxfordshire businesses to gear up for major changes in charges scheduled for delivery this summer.

Under the new system, Pricing in Proportion, due to be introduced on August 21, both the weight and the size of an item will be taken into account when determining the cost of posting it.

At the moment, postal cost is determined by weight only.

Director of Postcomm Diane Bagge said: "We reckon that 70 per cent of business users will find the new policy cheaper.

"Every other European country has a system similar to this and the Post Office has been asking to introduce these changes for a long time.

"The point is that Royal Mail wants to avoid things that need to be sorted by hand, such as oddly sized or shaped items."

Users will be able to work out charges with the help of measuring devices to be given away in Post Offices, and a TV advertising campaign will be launched over the coming weeks.

The OX postal region, four years ago the worst performing area in the country at a time when Royal Mail was losing £1m a year, has now made a turnaround.

Latest statistics for Oxfordshire show 93.8 per cent of first-class deliveries are arriving the next day.

Ms Bagge urged business users to investigate the 14 licensed operators, apart from Royal Mail, now allowed to run a postal delivery service to see whether they might be able to offer a service more closely tailored to their needs.

Postcomm staged a roadshow at the River and Rowing Museum, Henley, on the new Pricing in Proportion system, due to come into force on August 21, to advise business customers how to make best use of the new charge scales.