Royal Mail could save £650m by moving to three-day-a-week service, says Ofcom

Regulator sets out possible ways forward in review of requirement to deliver across Britain, six days a week

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Royal Mail could save up to 650m if it delivered letters just three days a week and 200m by stopping Saturday deliveries, the communications regulator has said in its much-anticipated review of the postal service.

Ofcom laid out a series of options for the future of the universal service obligation (USO) - which requires Royal Mail to deliver countrywide, six days a week for a fixed price - including saving an estimated 100m-200m by going from six to five days a week, or cutting costs by 400m-650m with a reduction to three days.