Anger at 14.5m letters lost in post

A campaign to stamp out a " hidden" scandal involving Britain's under-fire postal services is launched today.

A consumer watchdog is urging the millions of residents whose post is put through the wrong letter box to make an official complaint to the Royal Mail.

About 14.5 million letters are lost in the post every year, of which about 60 per cent are simply delivered to the wrong house.

Postwatch, the official body representing Royal Mail customers, said only one person in 10 complains-about misdelivered mail because it is seen as "only a small mistake".

But the consequences - such as a missed hospital appointment - can be disastrous if the letter is not passed on to the right address, said Postwatch chairman Peter Carr.

A Mori survey commissioned by Postwatch found 54 per cent of people have received misdelivered mail in the past six months and five per cent put the letters they received for another house straight in the bin.

Postwatch has produced a pack that can be used to register a complaint with the Royal Mail - including bright stickers to attach to wrongly delivered letters.

Mr Carr urged: "If Royal Mail do not know about the problem, they cannot fix it. Let them know!"

The Royal Mail said: "Only around 0.07 per cent of the 21 billion letters we handle a year were lost or substantially delayed in 2002/3 - around 280,000 letters a week."