ROYAL Mail has cut out second deliveries across the area - and in one fell swoop reduced the service from a first class service to a second, or even third class one.

People used to getting mail delivered before work in the morning now have to wait until they return home, while businesses are being forced to collect the mail themselves - or risk going past a deadline.

To add to the mess, opening hours of the collection office at Otley have been slashed - so anyone wanting to collect registered, undelivered mail will have to collect it before lunchtime - or wait until the next day. Clearly, the service is a shadow of its former self and no one is happy with it.

And Royal Mail's response - it's in line with everywhere else in the country. So, that's it then - lump it, we're not about to change. Seems Royal Mail is not about serving its customers any more, it's more about making money.

THE first agricultural show of the season, Otley Show, is almost with us once again. In just four weeks the show will go ahead - the result of 11 months hard work by a small band of volunteers.

On a sunny day, Otley Show can attract up to 40,000 people - and with them all the benefits that a crowd of that size can bring to the town. The show is a fantastic, good value, family event and for everyone who makes the effort to take part, immensely satisfying.

The child who wins a prize for a piece of embroidery or a miniature garden will remember it all their lives and where else to see the very best cattle and sheep, unusual poultry and fantastic looking pigeons in such close proximity.

Otley Show is a taste of the countryside and as such should be valued greatly. The country would be a far poorer place if events like Otley Show were to disappear.