Second class letter deliveries could be cut from Saturdays

Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s group director for networks and communications, told the BBC’s Today programme the universal service “does need to change”.

“To be clear, no change is not really an option, otherwise it is going to be unsustainable and we’re all going to have to pay a lot more for it,” she said.

Royal Mail’s owner, International Distribution Services, said that “change cannot come soon enough”.

IDS chief executive Martin Seidenberg said: “The universal service faces a very real and urgent financial sustainability challenge.”

IDS is currently in the process of being bought by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky for £3.57bn.