Mail trains were axed in favour of air and road deliveries

The night train delivering mail from Bristol to Devon and Cornwall was axed three weeks ago, although a "ghost train" continued as a contingency until 30 January.

Mail is now flown into Exeter and then delivered by road, but some people claim deliveries are hours - or even days - late.

The apology came as postal watchdog Postwatch called for Cornwall's mail to be flown via Newquay airport to speed up deliveries.

'Working hard'

Graham Jones, Royal Mail's manager for Cornwall and Devon, said: "At the moment parts of the network jigsaw do not fit as they should.

"But the air service will provide a better service than rail ever could.

"There are difficulties that we are working hard to overcome.

"We are using aircraft we have never used before, so we have to familiarise ourselves with them.

"In the first week, container pods were stuck in the planes."

He added: "We have not got it 100% right and I apologise for that, but we are working very hard to get it right."

Eric Distin, chairman of Cornwall's Postwatch panel, said bringing deliveries into Newquay Airport would improve services for the community.

He said: "From Penzance for example the mail goes in and out to the Scillies so we are already part of the way and we should be working with the postal authorities to address that issue."

But Mr Jones said there were no plans for Newquay Airport deliveries.

"He said: "I am not convinced by Newquay yet. Never say never, but there is no reason why the network through Exeter should not work."