Proud to be Cheam at Christmas - Burstow

12.00.00am GMT Tue 20th Dec 2005

Paul Burstow MP has launched a Christmas drive as part of his long-running campaign to persuade Royal Mail to accept Cheam as a postal address in its own right.

For more than a year Paul Burstow has been trying to persuade Royal Mail to recognise the historical importance and continuing significance of Cheam by allowing it to be the postal address for people living in the Cheam area, rather than Sutton, the postal town, which Royal Mail insists on for 'efficient delivery'.

The MP has produced stickers saying "Cheam is our address - Proud to be Cheam" and has asked residents to stick them on their Christmas mail to illustrate the strength of their feeling.

Paul Burstow said:

"This whole issue has become bogged down in a Hampton Court maze of bureaucracy. At first I was dealing with someone in Red Hill, and now the issue has been handed over to someone in Shrewsbury - 170 miles away - who's probably never heard of Cheam.

"In spite of almost universal use of the postcode, Royal Mail says a significant volume of mail still has to be sorted manually, and the inclusion of Sutton is essential to help sort mail accurately. I do not accept that - Carshalton is an address in its own right, even though Sutton is its postal town.

"There's only one Cheam in the United Kingdom, while there are more than 50 places with Sutton in their name - if anything Cheam would be more helpful than Sutton to include in the address." ENDS.