MY long-suffering but efficient postman delivered my mail this morning.

Nothing strange about that you may say but, of the four letters he delivered, two were sent through two rivals awarded contracts under the previous Government’s carve-up of the Royal Mail.

Now it is not rocket science to surmise that if Royal Mail delivered these two missives on behalf of the aforementioned private couriers, they have been paid for doing so but then those two must also have been paid enough by the originators to justify them using Royal Mail but still make a profit on the transaction.

Postage we are told is going once again to be increased – what isn’t these days?

But, surely, if Royal Mail had been allowed to tender for the contracts with the originating companies, not only could they have probably tendered cheaper but possibly increased their own profit margin, hopefully therefore obviating the need to raise postage costs to meet the demands of running a service which is still, I think, probably the best in the world.

In fairness I have not travelled the world entirely, so I may be doing some postal service somewhere a disservice, but the Royal Mail and our postmen as a whole do a job we, and they, should be proud of.

Was it really all about saving money or was there a kickback for someone? Surely not.

CHRIS PAYNE, Turnpike Road, Bicester