§ Mr. KINGasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that Clevedon, Somerset, a town of 6,000 population, has no post outwards on Sundays; that letters posted after 6.45 p.m. on Saturdays are only delivered in London on Tuesday; that there is a Sunday evening mail train which stops at Yatton to pick up mails, and that the Clevedon district council offers to pay the whole cost of sending a letter bag on Sundays to be placed on this mail train; and whether he will favourably consider this addition to the Clevedon postal facilities?
§ Mr. ILLINGWORTHIt is not merely a question of expense. The Sunday evening dispatch from Clevedon ceased in January last, when the Sunday train service on the Clevedon branch line was suspended as part of a general policy in order to economise labour and material. A letter posted on Sunday should be delivered on Monday afternoon or evening in any part of London. The provision of a road mail service would tend to defeat the object aimed at by the restriction of railway facilities, and I cannot, therefore, accept the offer of the Clevedon Parish Council.