MASS confusion could be caused by Royal Mail's new postal charges, a post watchdog has warned.

New prices for posting birthday cards, presents and the like came into effect yesterday - but Postwatch believes the changes could cause huge queues as neither post offices nor customers know what's going on.

The new prices take into account the size and shape of items as well as their weight.

But when Postwatch surveyed post offices throughout the country in the first week of August to find out what they are doing to let people know about the changes, they discovered disappointing results.

Of the 307 post offices Postwatch visited: 34 per cent did not have a measuring template displayed in their premises and 37 per cent were not displaying the Pricing in Proportion (PIP) poster.

For more information on the price changes visit the Postwatch site

  • Have you been affected by the new postal charges? Do you agree with the changes? Have your say on our message board - click here