YOUR coupons deploring the lateness of delivery to businesses in York are still pouring in - and their collective message to Royal Mail is clear: "You may be saving money but it is at our expense.

Business practice over years has evolved around the arrival of the post. Change those times drastically and you cause havoc. Think again..."

Now add your voice to theirs. Use our coupon to make your stand - or beam into our interactive website coupon on www.thisisyork.co.uk and have your say.

Here are some of the observations.

Sonia Baylis, administrator of FPD Savills, property consultants in Micklegate, York, writes: "We used to receive our first and only delivery before 9.30am. In our line of work we are committed to giving our clients the best possible service which means prompt responses to queries and immediate reporting of offers etc.

"Most of our correspondence is carried out in writing for legal reasons.

"Since this new system has started, we are often not receiving our mail until after noon, yet the information supplied by Royal Mail before the system changed assured us that our business would be very unlikely to be affected by these changes.

"We often operate a system called 'best and final offers' which generally calls for written offers to be submitted by noon on a particular day. If we aren't receiving the mail until after 12 it turns this process into a bit of a joke."

James Finlay OBE, of the Merchant Adventurers' Hall, Fossgate, York, writes: "As a small, independent registered museum and registered charity, an organisation that has been operating continuously in the City of York since 1357, our present levels of staffing and hours of work are designed to cope with postal deliveries before 9am.

"This has been the case for many years and how well it has worked until three weeks ago.

"Early delivery allowed us to deal with the mail in a timely and efficient manner and then turn our attention to the thousands from York, the rest of UK and abroad that visit the Hall each year.

"Postal deliveries are now being received at any time up to and beyond noon. This is having a serious and adverse effect on the way we deliver the service we are committed to deliver to the many users of the Merchant Adventurers' Hall."

Patrick Curran, managing director of insurance consultancy, P B Curran & Co (York) Ltd of High Petergate complains: "Failure to deliver post impacts heavily upon the service we can provide to our clients. Many of our staff work part time in the mornings only.

"Our own service levels will therefore reduce if the postal delivery time continues to be at about noon rather than before 9am."

Andrew Curry, of Glen Garage Suzuki, in Hawthorne Grove, York, wrote: "It is now noon on Friday, January 6. The last mail delivery we have received was 2.30pm on Wednesday, January 4. Previously we would always receive two substantial deliveries every day."

Updated: 09:56 Monday, February 09, 2004