Royal Mail staff in Oxford could win a car or dream holiday if they do not take any sick leave for six months - but Oxford City Council says it has no such plans to follow suit.

Staff absenteeism has become such a problem among postal workers that management has decided to offer employees the carrot of winning one of 34 £12,000 Ford Focus cars and 68 £2,000 holiday vouchers.

At any time 10,000 staff - or 6.5 per cent of Royal Mail's total workforce of 170,000 - are off work sick.

The average Royal Mail employee is off work 12 days a year compared with a national average of seven. In Oxford, 4.9 per cent of the workforce are off at any one time.

Last week, the Oxford Mail revealed that city council employees - who have the worst attendance record of local authorities in the county - are being asked to limit their sick days to eight a year.

Last year, the 1,250 staff took an average of 12 days off - the worst of all five district councils and the county council. The total number of days lost to sickness was 15,000.

Royal Mail spokesman Michael Dalton said: "This incentive scheme relies on the carrot - not the stick - and recognises that in common with many other employers across the UK, Royal Mail does sometimes have a problem with absenteeism and this new scheme is about managing absenteeism better.

"Managing absences better will help us to deliver a better service to our customers."

Every employee who does not have any time off sick between August 2 and January 31 next year will be automatically entered into the prize draw.

In addition, employees who have a good past attendance record can be put forward by their managers to win one of 12 weekend breaks.

In April, a section of Royal Mail workers in Oxford walked out on strike amid allegations of harassment, intimidation and bullying by a small section of their colleagues.

The wildcat strike sent the city's postal service into chaos.

Bill Baker, deputy leader of Oxford City Council, said: "Our preferred approach is to work with employees and monitor sickness, closely working with individuals to improve their attendance."

AN OXFORD man who came across a bundle of dumped post at the entrance to the block of flats where he lives ended up delivering the letters himself.

Paul Howard found around 30 letters wrapped in elastic bands outside the main doors of the Brome Place flats in Barton. He later delivered the letters addressed to flats 18-36 to his neighbours.

Peter Harris, of the Headington Sorting Office, has promised Mr Howard he will look into what happened.