Three-quarters of Oxford could be hit by late postal deliveries from today following a shake-up of services and job cuts at a sorting office in the city.

Post could arrive as late as mid-day in north, south and west Oxford as the second delivery service is scrapped and replaced with single, larger delivery rounds.

Postal workers will receive an extra £26 a week as a result of the changes, which are being carried out in towns across the country following a national review.

Up to 15 redundancies are expected at the sorting office in Oxpens Road, Oxford.

Some areas of Oxfordshire have already been affected by the shake-up, with some residents in west Oxfordshire complaining that their mail is not arriving until well after 11am.

Royal Mail admits that more businesses in Oxford are likely to sign up for its timed delivery service - at a cost of £10.80 a day - as a result of the changes. Steve Peck, spokesman for the Communication Workers Union in Oxford, said he was expecting there to be "teething problems" with the new system, but he hoped they would not last long.

He said: "Postmen will have more work to do so they will be working longer and that means the later part of their rounds could be affected.

"The post could be delivered as late as midday."

Royal Mail spokesman Richard Hall said the job cuts would be achieved through voluntary redundancies and by leaving vacancies unfilled.

He added: "A lot of people will not notice any difference. Less than four per cent of mail goes out on a second delivery but it accounts for 20 per cent of our costs."

Oxford Chamber of Commerce spokesman Christina Howell urged businesses who had concerns or experienced problems with the new system to get in touch.

She said: "These are necessary changes to make the Royal Mail commercially viable and to pay workers a decent wage.

"If businesses do have any real issues or concerns we can take them directly to the Royal Mail."

Call the Chamber of Commerce on 01753 870500.