Bid to end Shrewsbury/Wem postal confusion

Councillors are stepping up their fight to end mail mix-ups by removing Shrewsbury from Wem postal addresses after it emerged credit ratings could be hit too.

Wem Town Council wants to summon Royal Mail chiefs to resolve ongoing problems caused by confusion over Shrewsbury and Wem addresses. Last night's town council meeting heard about mail and credit problems.

Not only are items of mail going astray, but credit ratings could also be hit because of inaccurate data used on 'autocomplete' forms on websites, it heard.

While both towns share SY postcodes, the word Wem is often followed by the word Shrewsbury in many postal addresses, making the north Shropshire town appear to be a suburb of the county town. It means mail often goes to the wrong town, especially to street addresses shared by both.