Contrary to what Barry Hughes suggests (Letters, June 18), the introduction of single daily delivery in Hove was not achieved by replacing full time staff with agency staff.

Royal Mail, like any similar large company, uses temporary staff to cover annual leave, sick leave, heavy workloads - such as Christmas - and periods of major change.

Single daily delivery is one of the biggest changes to the delivery network in decades and there has been a period of bedding-in where staff become familiar with new structures and new walks.

There are 127 full-time staff and 17 part-time staff employed at the Hove delivery office and ten to 15 temporary staff helping to bed in the new changes.

Under the changes, the number of permanent staff went from 169 to 144 but this was covered either by not filling positions already vacant, by voluntary redundancy, or by transfer to other parts of the business. All have received the necessary paperwork as part of this.

No member of staff was made compulsorily redundant.

Customers can be assured the new structure is continuing to bed in at Hove and we deliver normally between 9am and lunchtime every day.

Hove delivery office clears its first and second class mail every day.

The complaints we receive relate invariably to later delivery times but this is a key element of single daily delivery.

-Bill Taylor, Delivery Sector Manager, Royal Mail, 62 North Road, Brighton