NEWPORT is ranked among the worst in the country for first class postal delivery.

Just 88 per cent of post in the city reaches its destination while the rest is delivered the next day according to the figures which puts the city in the top 20 worst performing areas in the UK.

The national target is 92.5 per cent.

The news comes as it was revealed today that the Royal Mail is paying a record £50 million in compensation for late delivery of post. New figures showed that the organisation missed all of its targets in the first quarter of the financial year.

The compensation, to business and individual customers, followed disruption to the service last year when deliveries were hit by industrial action.

The Royal Mail insisted reliability was improving and said more than nine out of ten first class letters were arriving the day after being posted.

But the new figures showed that just 88.3% of first class letters were delivered on time between April and June against a target of 92.5%. The Royal Mail missed all 15 of its targets during the three months, according to the figures.

Changes to single delivery of mail were blamed by managers with a low point of 87.2% of first class mail arriving on time in May.

Adam Crozier, chief executive of the Royal Mail, who took personal day-to-day control of the letters business in May, said there was "real evidence" that the service was getting better.

"Clearly there were some problems in the spring but the service has improved, month-on-month, since May and we are now approaching our target level for first class mail."

The company said that the service dipped in the spring while the "massive modernisation programme" in the letters business was introduced across the country.

The changes were essential to improve efficiency and ensure it could compete profitably with a high quality service against growing competition, said Mr Crozier.