Sir - My experience this week really leads me to wonder what image Royal Mail think they deserve from the public.

In mid-week three important letters for me marked 'special delivery' were returned to the Witney sorting office because they required signatures and no-one was home at the time.

A ridiculous regulation precludes their being left with a next-door neighbour unless "officially designated".

One can, perhaps, live with this degree of red tape. What was really ludicrous, however, was the subsequent misconceived arrangement for redelivery.

The card left by the postman recommends applying on-line to: www.royalmail.com/redelivery. I took this advice and was duly sent an e-mail confirming redelivery for Saturday.

When the post came on Saturday the postman did not have the letters with him and knew nothing of them.

I 'phoned the Witney sorting office only to learn that they no longer have a computer in Witney! This meant that the on-line agreement that I had received confirmation of was unknown by the Witney office.

Therefore, in order to comply with the terms of delivery, an employee had to leave the Witney office to make a special delivery, a return journey of ten miles.

Clearly the employees concerned are in no way to blame and they did their best to compensate for what is simply crass failure at management level.

It has been suggested that Royal Mail are cynically trying to run down the service and sell if off as soon as possible. I hardly know what to think but I guess other readers may have some views on this.

Robert Sale, Swinford