I RECEIVED a Special Delivery item which had to be called for at the post office in Prestwich.

I went to Prestwich Post Office in Kingswood Road, but was not able to park my car. Immediately a warden pounced on me and told me that I couldn't park there, although I was waiting for a car parking place.

It made me think of the state of the present postal service. The closure of the sub-post offices in Prestwich and Whitefield, and the closure of the main post office in Bury, has left this side of town to be serviced by the main post office at Prestwich.

This has resulted in people having to drive there and try to leave their vehicles in a totally inadequate parking area.

Because of the closure of the many sub-post offices, the queue in the main office can take from 15-30 minutes to be serviced. At the same time, yellow-coated men are outside looking to increase the council's revenue, not only in Kingswood Road but all around the area of the post office.

I wonder how elderly people cope with having to stand for an inordinate amount of time in a queue to obtain service at the counter.

I wonder how people will get to the post office when Alistair Darling has considered the problems of excess traffic on the roads?

STEWART J KAY