I took the bus to Brighton last week for a day out with a friend.

As there are no longer post offices near me in Mile Oak, and needing to post a birthday card, I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and post it in Brighton. Sounds a simple enough task I would have thought in the 21st century.

Alas, I was not prepared for the total lack of post offices in the middle of Brighton. On inquiring I was told there was only one post office in town and that was in WH Smiths in Churchill Square.

So, finding myself close by, in I went. The queue in there was like nothing I'd ever seen. It struck me like something out of a horror movie - a deadly snake made up of human beings twisting and turning as it made its way very slowly round the numerous bends towards the counter.

There must have been at least 40 people caught up in that queue, possibly more. It was mostly made up of workers on their lunch break.

I noticed there were about seven counters. That's not so bad, I thought but to add insult to injury out of the seven counters only three had an assistant. Were they on their lunch breaks too? I had no intention of standing for what would have been well over an hour waiting to be served, so I beat a hasty retreat.

I find this totally unacceptable in this day and age. Remember we are talking about the city of Brighton. A city packed with people wanting to do all sorts of transactions day in and day out and there we are with just one post office, it's ridiculous.

The Post Office keeps advertising on TV how wonderful it is, and how it can do so much for you, (that's if you are to believe the TV adverts).

Yet in truth you have to be either Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot to even sniff one out these days, let alone get served. Alas, soon they will be like the dodo - extinct.

  • Diane Jones, Oakdene Gardens Portslade