§ 74. Sir N. GRATTAN-DOYLEasked the Postmaster-General on what principle it is decided whether a town shall have a continuous Sunday telegram service, no telegram service on Sundays after 10.30 a.m., or a limited service; and whether he will state the application of the principle to Winchester, Bath, and Brighton, respectively?
§ The POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Sir William Mitchell-Thomson)The usual hours of telegraph business on Sunday are 9 to 10.30 a.m. (10 a.m. in Scotland). A continuous service is given only in large towns and at Dover and Holyhead. There are a few intermediate cases in which the size or the telegraphic importance of a town, though not sufficient to demand a continuous service, warrants some attendance outside the normal hours. Winchester has a comparatively small population and light telegraph traffic. It is therefore included in the group which have the normal hours of Sunday service; Bath belongs to the intermediate group, and has an additional hour from 5 to 6 p.m.; Brighton is of much greater size and the volume of its traffic warrants an all-day service.