Businesses and individuals are to be charged �14 a week for having fewer than 20 letters delivered before 9am, Consignia has announced.

The charges are part of a series of changes taking place in 14 pilot areas from next Monday.

It has already been announced that the second post is being abolished in favour of one delivery a day.

The name Consignia failed to catch on

Small businesses have reacted angrily to the move to introduce a weekly charge.

"Business recognises that Royal Mail is experiencing problems," said Sally Low, head of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.

"However, it cannot shift these problems onto small businesses. A cheque arriving in the mail before 9 am or after noon can mark the difference between a firm surviving or folding."

The changes being piloted mean businesses receiving more than 20 letters a day will get their post delivered between 7am and 9am.

Domestic households will get it between 9am and midday.

It is thought the weekly charge alone will save the company �350m.

Job losses

The changes are part of a three-year shake-up designed to save Consignia �1bn.

A total of 17,000 jobs are to go and Consignia's name will change to Royal Mail Group at the end of the year.

The pilot areas where the charge will be introduced include:

• Crawley, West Sussex
• Bow, east London
• Edinburgh Dell
• Sheringham, Norfolk
• east Manchester
• Llanelli, Wales
• Newbury, Berks
• Newhaven, East Sussex
• Loughborough, Leicestershire
• Halifax, West Yorkshire
• Plymouth, Devon
• Ballymena, Northern Ireland
• Thirsk, north Yorkshire
• St Helens, Merseyside.

A spokesman for the Small Business Federation told the BBC the weekly charge would hit many of its members so hard it would put their livelihoods at risk.

And shadow trade and industry secretary John Whittingdale added: "Many small firms rely on the Royal Mail for their cash flow and their orders and cannot afford to wait until lunchtime for a delivery.

Re-branded

"This extra charge that they will now face represents a significant additional cost and flies in the face of the assurances that have been given that those who need to receive mail in the morning will be able to do so."

The postal delivery service rebranded itself as Consignia a year ago to gear up for the loss of its monopoly of UK postal delivery services.

But the new name failed to catch on and in May it was announced there would be a return to the Royal Mail Group.