PENSIONERS and businesses in Swindon have raised concerns over sharp hikes in the cost of sending letters through the Royal Mail, which were announced yesterday.

A first-class stamp will rise in price from 46p to 60p and a second-class stamp will rise from 36p to 50p from 30 April after regulator Ofcom lifted some price controls.

The cost of franked and bulk mail for businesses will also increase from the same date, but the exact amount depends on the weight and amount of what is sent.

Ofcom said that changes needed to be made to price limits, because the future of the UK’s universal, six-day-a-week postal service was “at severe risk” as people switched to using text messages, emails, and online messaging.

However, local commentators said the increase in stamp prices – the biggest annual increase in percentage terms since 1975 – would force people to send fewer letters.

Sherry Waldon, 90, of Park North, said: “Everybody who can will stop using the post and the Royal Mail will be down the drain.

Who’s going to keep paying that amount of money if they can possibly do anything else?

“A lot of people are already using email, aren’t they? I will just do more emails and send fewer letters. I think pensioners will stop sending letters, they have been hit everywhere else at the moment, so they will send fewer letters.”

Jane Cole, a negotiator at Strakers estate agent and lettings agent, in Old Town, said most of her clients were already sent details via email rather than post, but the firm did have a franking machine.

She said: “I suppose it’s like everything, it makes you wonder, in the technical world that we live in, will it drive more people to do more business via email?

“I would say yes.”

Andrea Westwood, a sales assistant at Expressions card shop, in Old Town, said the shop also sold stamps and customers had already complained about the price hike.

She said: “I think it’s a big step. I don’t mind paying the money if you get a first-class service, but I don’t think it is – not when letters can take two or three days in the Swindon area.”

However, she did not think it would lead to people sending more e-cards.

“A lot of the older people wouldn’t want to send emails, so they will come in and buy their cards,” she said.

Mark Ellis, regional operations director for Royal Mail in Thames Valley, said: “No-one likes to raise prices in the current economic climate but, regretfully, we have no option.

“Royal Mail provides one of the highest quality postal services in Europe at among the lowest prices for both consumers and business. That service is under threat from declining volume, e-substitution and ever increasing competition.

“Because of these pressures, Royal Mail has lost £1 billion over the past four financial years; the sustainability of the service is now at severe risk.

“Price increases are needed to return the universal service to sustainability.”