Council adopts new postal system

A new postal system is set to be adopted by a Somerset council to save £24,000 a year from its budget.

Mendip District Council wants to switch from Royal Mail to a computer system.

The new system called One Mail allows staff to upload letters to a firm in Birmingham which prints them out and posts them back to Somerset.

Savings will be made on stamps and staff who work remotely will also save time and printing costs in posting off letters, the Tory-run council said.

'Donkey work'

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "We always seek to offer our customers - both business and residential customers - the best possible mail delivery service.

"In terms of business or bulk mail, we operate in a very competitive market and it is always disappointing when we lose custom to our competitors."

The cost of transferring to the new system is £4,400 but the council has said this will be recouped in the first year of operation.

The council claims the rising cost of using Royal Mail means its postal costs could rise by around £10,000 if it stays with them.

Councillor Graham Noels, said: "It's a fairly simple system, instead of writing and printing letters out on the spot and franking them, we simply electronically transfer the letters through to a central office and they do all the donkey work.

"It saves time, it saves the officer time, having to buy stamps and envelopes and also it saves office space because the staff won't have to keep stamps and envelopes in stationary cupboards."

The decision will be made later during a cabinet meeting which is due to start at 18:30 BST on Monday.