Firm makes pigeon post protest

Ned Corbett-Winder, 29, from Berriew, near Welshpool, said his small business, which is based in London, can no longer afford to use the regular parcel service so he has now reverted back to using traditional delivery methods.

Mr Corbett-Winder, who runs NotAnotherBill.com in Fulham, said he was "standing up for the little guy" by refusing to pay increased charges.

Instead he is using his team of pigeons to deliver goods within a 60-mile radius.

He said: "I set up the business because I was fed up of only ever receiving bills or pizza menus through the post. People can sign up to my website and each month we send out a gift to make people smile when they go to their letterbox.

"Businesses like mine rely on Royal Mail and we are at the mercy of these price hikes.

"The latest price increase will cost my business around £2,500 over the course of a year, which for small business is a huge amount of money. Government is supposed to be supporting small businesses but this move flies in the face of that support and I fear that with the privatisation of the Royal Mail price increases like this are going to become a regular occurrence."

Mr Corbett-Winder said he has trained the pigeons to fly between his home in Acton, west London to a village near Oxford, 59 miles away.

He added: "We have four customers in this village, so they will now receive their delivery by pigeon. People have always joked that if their parcel is late it would have been quicker sending it by carrier pigeon. Well I am testing this theory out."

Mr Corbett-Winder said the pigeons can carry parcels up to 75g with the journey taking just over an hour and the birds flying at just over 50mph.

He added: "In addition to the protest it is something I am sure our customers will enjoy.

"Myself and my family are from the Berriew area and I see the business moving back home there in a few years time."