A RURAL organisation says attempts by Royal Mail to abolish its guaranteed single price postal service to all UK addresses will unfairly disadvantage remote areas.

The Royal Mail has reiterated its calls for a rethink to its Universal Service mandate, which requires it by law to deliver to all parts of the UK at one fixed price.

It recently warned that rivals, including Amazon, were eating into its parcel delivery business and the rise of delivery firm Whistl could wipe £200m off its sales. The company has claimed the mandate prevents it from competing on a level playing field.

But the Northern branch of CLA North, which represents people who own land, property or businesses in rural areas, claims the Royal Mail’s threat to end or amend its obligation would cause “serious harm” to those who live and work in the countryside.

CLA North regional Director Dorothy Fairburn said: "The daily post is, and must remain, an intrinsic part of rural life. Without it, rural services, which are already under significant strain, will be seriously undermined.

“Any suggestion that Royal Mail is seeking to amend, or possibly abolish the Universal Service obligation in the future, is a serious threat to everyone living and working in the countryside.”

Miss Fairburn added that the CLA, which represents thousands of landowners, farmers and rural businesses in the North, will be writing to Ofcom calling for them to seriously consider the extension of Universal Service obligation to other operators in the postal market.

She said: “We recognise that a company like Royal Mail must seek to generate profit. However, this has to be addressed through achieving fair competition not removing a vital service from rural consumers."

Businessman Griff Thomas, who runs a firm in Hawes in Wensleydale, was sceptical that introducing additional charges for remote locations would ever come to pass, or be a viable option for a postal service.

His company, GTEC, which specialises in providing electrical and renewable training and building industry services, already uses other courier services for parcel deliveries, none of whom charge extra for the remote location.

“It’s a flat fee with other couriers so we’re very sceptical of the case of this.

“Even if they started levying a charge, I can’t even begin to think how they would administer it. If you sent a letter from here to somewhere equally rural, who decides what the charges are? It all seems very unmanageable to be honest.”