POSTAL bosses have assured residents in Kearsley that mail deliveries will improve after receiving complaints from customers that the service is letting them down.

Residents are growing more exasperated with mail frequently being delivered to wrong addresses.

Kearsley councillor Bill Collison last week met with Royal Mail management at Bolton's head office for urgent talks to remedy the problem.

Postal bosses have admitted that they have been struggling to find postmen to cover the round in Kearsley.

But after residents registered formal complaints, Royal Mail say that they have appointed a postman to stay on the round.

Cllr Collison said: "The postmen were not completing the job and residents here were having to finish it for them.

"The post sometimes does not come on a Monday at all, and we frequently get letters for far-flung places like Bromley Cross."

Cllr Collison recalls waiting for a cheque to be delivered and finding it on the pavement, three houses away, wet with rain.

He added: "I have heard that Kearsley is considered a bad round because many of the postmen do not like climbing up the steps leading to the houses.

"Even so, we are paying our money and postmen should have pride in what they do. I just hope they sort it out."

Residents say that Kearsley has not had a regular postman for years and they often miss out on important correspondence.

Clifford Mountford, who owns CPM Garage, has complained after constantly getting the wrong mail.

He said: "The service is not satisfactory and I get a lot of letters for garages about a mile down the road.

"I once stopped a postman putting an envelope for the Royal Bolton Hospital in my letterbox.

"This has got to be rectified as we pay for our stamps and this has been happening for too long."

A Royal Mail spokesman has assured residents that a regular postman for Kearsley has now been found.

She said: "These issues have been resolved and there is no reason why the service in Kearlsey should be anything less than it should be.

"If customers do have concerns, we would urge them to report it to us immediately as this gives us a chance to take the appropriate action."