I was truly amazed the other day on the run-up to Christmas to find the post office had run out of second-class stamps.

This is like saying the bank has run out of £5 notes. No wonder the service expected from the Royal Mail is falling fast.

Second deliveries have stopped on the estates and collections are patchy (a letter posted on Sunday is not collected until midday Monday).

And now the Royal Mail announces the solution is to pay extra for delivery.

I was under the impression the purchase of a stamp paid for that service.

I can understand the frustrations of the post office staff when faced with closures and redundancies and the ridiculous state of affairs in which a new city loses its sorting office to - of all places - Gatwick.

It would make sense if this had improved the service but we all know different.

-James Greed, Brighton