Post failing the public

The postal service in Brighton used to be one of the best in Britain with most mail delivered next day.

But since the sorting office moved last year from Brighton to Gatwick, many people have horror stories to tell about delays.

The latest comes from the St John Ambulance Brigade, which found important exam papers took 45 days to travel the 12 miles from Ringmer to Brighton.

Royal Mail bosses say the move to Gatwick had nothing to do with this particular delay and the new sorting office is working well.

But that's not the impression given to Terry Wing of the brigade, who says the people responsible should be whipped in the street.

It's too late now to reverse a move which was greeted with apprehension by many of the staff as well as customers.

But Royal Mail customers need assurances that their post is going to be delivered in time. Otherwise these days many of them will find alternatives such as using e-mail.

Helping hand

People exposed to sudden horror such as the Grand Hotel bombing of 1984 in Brighton sometimes have severe problems afterwards.

Now Dr Jo Rick of Sussex University has urged firms to plan ahead so they are not caught out when tragedy happens.

She's right to stress that they need to have systems in place to support staff who have to deal with an emergency or crisis.

Too often they are left to fend for themselves or given bad advice which can affect them for months or even years afterwards.

Boy band blues

Damien Flood from Shoreham played a pop star in a West End show charting the rise and fall of a boy band.

Now Damien's faced with screaming fans in real life as well because he's become part of a group called Brit Pack.

Truth will be stranger than fiction if Brit Pack manage to avoid the swift decline he portrayed on stage.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.