IPSWICH-based posties were today given a pat on the back from an independent watchdog.But there was a warning for customers that Chelmsford sorting office – which deals with some mail from throughout Suffolk – has slipped down the league table to become the second-worst sorting office in Britain.

IPSWICH-based posties were today given a pat on the back from an independent watchdog.

But there was a warning for customers that Chelmsford sorting office – which deals with some mail from throughout Suffolk – has slipped down the league table to become the second-worst sorting office in Britain.

National body Postwatch published figures showing that the number of first-class letters delivered the following day in the Ipswich area was 92.7 per cent during the six months from April to September this year.

That's up from 90 pc last year, and within the national target of 92.5 pc.

However in Chelmsford the situation is not so rosy – the performance fell from 89.3pc to 88.8pc.

Chelmsford is a major distribution centre for mail, and handles second class mail for Suffolk and all the region's Sunday mail sorting.

Myrna Liles, Postwatch East of England Deputy Chair welcomed the improvements seen at Ipswich.

However she was concerned about the regional centre in Essex: She said: "The results for Chelmsford are very disappointing and we are concerned that any progress is very slow.

"There are issues at Chelmsford, which were highlighted by our meetings with them.

"We have been assured that they are implementing procedures, which we hope will improve the quality of service in this area.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and hope that the next performance figures will reflect the efforts of the teams in Chelmsford."

No one from the Royal Mail locally was available to comment, but national chief executive Adam Crozier warned this autumn's unofficial strikes endangered the prospects of a national improvement.

"These results reflect our commitment to improving performance but unfortunately progress has since been undermined by the unofficial strike action," said Mr Crozier.

"The vast majority of our people – around 80 per cent – worked normally during the unofficial action but the disruption in the South East and some other parts of the country had an impact on our whole network."