Postie's junk mail crusade

Published on Sunday 3 December 2006 01:44

THE actions of a rebel postman who told customers how to avoid getting junk mail has led to more than 200,000 people signing up to opt-out schemes.

South Wales postman Roger Annies leafleted about 70 people on his round about opting out, in August, but when he was suspended as a result his cause got UK-wide publicity.

The Mailing Preference Service says it has since seen a massive growth in the number of people registering to stop receiving addressed junk mail.

A spokeswoman said: "There has been a huge increase. Since the end of August the figures have gone up by 200,000 in about a month, although they have now returned to a relatively low level."

Mail delivery consumer watchdog Postwatch said the rise was clearly a result of the publicity given to Annies' case.

A Postwatch spokesman said that while Annies, 45, had leafleted people about a different service - the Royal Mail scheme to opt out of unaddressed junk mail - he had highlighted the issue as a whole.

"Without a doubt this increase is because of the publicity surrounding Roger Annies but, at Postwatch, we think it was Royal Mail's reaction that led to hundreds of thousands of people opting out.

"People saw someone was doing something human and sensible and was being victimised for it."