One in five first class letters sent to and from Oxfordshire failed to arrive on time in a spot-check by the Oxford Mail.

The results have spurred Royal Mail's area general manager to admit it is still failing to meet targets -- six weeks after pledging post would be delivered efficiently.

On June 30, in an interview with the Oxford Mail, Michael Stockdale apologised for the chaos in Oxford's postal service following a wildcat strike by city workers in April.

He said the disruption had settled down and he had done his best to root out "bad apples" from the service.

But the Oxford Mail has since received scores of complaints from disgruntled customers, ranging from lost cheque books to late birthday cards.

Of 80 first class letters sent out by the Oxford Mail -- 40 from Oxford to addresses elsewhere in the county and across Britain, and 40 from cities and counties outside the county to Oxfordshire addresses -- 55 arrived on time the next day. Seven people were unable to say when their letters arrived as they were on holiday at the time of delivery.

Twelve letters took two days to arrive and four took three days.

One letter, sent from our head office in Osney Mead, Oxford, to our district office in King Alfred Drive, Didcot -- about 14 miles away -- took 11 days. Royal Mail said 'mis-delivery' on its part was a possible reason for the delay.

A second letter, posted on August 6, from Worcester to the same Didcot office has yet to arrive.

Oxfordshire businesses were outraged by the findings and called for "less talk and more action" from Royal Mail to solve what one accountant described as a "completely farcical situation".

Ian Hunter, owner of Hunter's Repairs, in Headington, Oxford, said: "We've found ourselves having to chase up what we thought were missed payments, only to be told people have posted the cheques to us."

Independent accountant Ted Devani, 52, of Eynsham Road, Botley, said: "I'm not too shocked by the results, because the situation with the postal service is completely farcical."

Keith Slater, president of the Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce, said many members had complained that first class post was not being delivered the next day.

He said: "In some cases, post just doesn't arrive. It can be very harmful for small businesses."

Nationally, Royal Mail has a 92.5 per cent target for first class mail deliveries.

In May, figures produced on behalf of Royal Mail by an independent company, which samples over 100,000 items every month, showed 87.5 per cent of first class mail in Oxfordshire was delivered on time between March 2003 and March this year.

Mr Stockdale said: "While the findings of the Oxford Mail survey are lower than the current independently-assessed performance level, we do acknowledge that our performance in Oxford is below target and we would offer our apologies to any customer who is experiencing problems.

"All of our people in Oxfordshire, front-line staff and managers, are working very hard to ensure that targets are met and that the current improving trend continues."