Controversial plans to charge for mail deliveries before 9am have been

overwhelmingly rejected in a survey.

In a poll of 170 people, eight out of ten hit out at proposals by Consignia to make them pay for an early delivery service.

Consignia is testing a scheme in Crawley and Newhaven it calls a "tailored delivery" service.

Businesses which receive more than 20 items of mail a day have their post delivered between 7am and 9am. Others, including most residential customers, get their post between 9am and lunchtime.

Many pointed out the problems later deliveries could pose for those who work from home and the idea has not proved popular with smaller businesses.

Stephen Harris, chief executive of watchdogs Postwatch South East England, which arranged the questionnaire at the South of England Show at Ardingly in June, said: "We want people affected to give us feedback.

"We understand Consignia has some difficult choices to make."

Mr Harris said one of the main concerns of Postwatch was what charges would be and the effect on small businesses and businesses run from home.

Stephen Gauge, of Sussex Enterprise, agreed a reduction in early deliveries could affect small businesses.

He said: "We will continue to monitor the situation."

A spokesman for Consignia said: "Our research shows that, contrary to concern about the time of delivery, most people want greater reliability.

"We estimate the move to a single delivery, six days a week, will help us deliver another million first-class items on time."