An appeal has gone out to business bosses in and around York to volunteer to carefully monitor their postal delivery times over the next few days.

Gerry Gray, of Grosvenor Financial Consultants of York, and co-organiser of huge protests at late-delivery times, wants businesses in strategic postal areas of the city to report to him on progress promised by Royal Mail.

He wants the detailed facts in time to present to Royal Mail officials when he meets them on behalf of the business community at York's Leeman Road sorting office on Monday, March 8.

"I want volunteers initially from YO1, YO10, YO19 and YO30, 31 and 32 to give me a rounded picture of progress or otherwise," he said, suggesting they should contact him by phoning 01904 562563.

Mr Gray chaired the meeting at the Mansion House in York on February 13 when angry business bosses confronted Andy Lamb, Royal Mail's area general manager for the Mid Yorkshire region, and his officials over the huge disruption caused by mail being delivered at lunchtime.

The business community, including the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, the York Chamber of Trade and the Yorkshire Federation of Small Businesses had no objection to Royal Mail's cost-cutting plan to reduce the deliveries from two to one, but they wanted deliveries by 8.30am in order to act on the mail that day. They feared that as York was one of the few cities where the new delivery system had been established, the problems they had suffered would be rolled out to the nation.

Royal Mail reported that there had been teething problems, changes had been made and deliveries were expected to be a lot earlier - and the progress meeting on March 8 was agreed.

Meanwhile, the "roll-out" continues as Royal Mail prepares to make changes to deliveries in York West (postcodes YO23, YO24 and YO26) from Monday March 1. As in the rest of the city, first and second deliveries will be amalgamated into a single, daily delivery.

Mr Gray wants monitoring of delivery times to begin in these areas shortly after that date and seeks volunteers.

Royal Mail says that customers will receive all their post in a single delivery for the day by around lunchtime. Most mail will be delivered well before this, with deliveries starting from 7am. For some customers there will be little or no change to their current delivery times.

Customers who want their mail early in the day will be able to collect it from the delivery office from 8.30am on request by phoning customer services on 0845 602 4536.

Many businesses, particularly small operators, say they are unable to pick up their mail and argue that in any case it flies in the face of the principle that a stamp pays for delivery.

The changes will result in a reduction of two jobs from the 106 at York West, but Royal Mail is not planning any compulsory redundancies.

Mr Lamb said: "Royal Mail employs around 80,000 people in its delivery operation so the reduction of jobs through the introduction of single delivery is manageable by natural wastage.

The Government has been called on to ease up on the rules for Royal Mail to help York businesses receive earlier mail.

Gerry Gray, co-organiser of the York business protests against late deliveries, said: "Royal Mail has been targeted with delivering all mail within 24 hours. This necessitates a sweeping up of late mail coming into sorting offices causing later delivery than we have been used to or can afford.

"This same-day delivery at all costs is written into the Government's licence and Royal Mail is measured against it. The business community would prefer 96 per cent of the mail delivered between 7am and 8.30am and the other four per cent of later deliveries to come the following day.

"This impasse can only be solved by government changing the licence."

Updated: 10:08 Thursday, February 26, 2004