THE region is receiving a substandard service from Royal Mail, according to a postal watchdog.

Postwatch has revealed that the company has failed to meet its target of delivering 92.5 per cent of First Class mail in 20 out of the 30 postal areas in the North.

Throughout the UK, it has failed to achieve the target in 86 out of 118 postcode areas.

Postwatch North chairwoman Judith Donovan said: "Most customers in Northern England are not getting the service they pay for. What is more, they are paying more than ever.

"Stamp price increases over the past couple of years have resulted in more than £400m extra revenue for Royal Mail.

"The company needs to redouble its efforts to ensure all customers are given a fair deal."

She said she accepted that Royal Mail was making improvements, but said the service in the North was "unacceptably poor and needs to improve".

However, Graham Moore, from Royal Mail, said the figures have not shown the improvements the company has been making in recent months.

He said: "We accept that the first quarter of the last year was pretty poor, and it is that figure which is going to have a knock-on effect on the figures as a whole.

"We have made massive strides during the last financial year, and there have been improvements in every postal code area.

"We know there is still more to do and we hope to improve further in the next financial year."