16 January 2007 - Fylde Borough Council has been taking steps to get rid of the hundreds of pieces of unsolicited junk mail that comes through its doors every day.
The Blackpool Citizen today reports that officers have concluded that a great deal of junk mail is sent to the council. The council receives more than 100 pieces of unsolicited mail a day, which is more than 3,000 a month and 36,500 a year. The junk mail includes marketing material and sales brochures that no one in the council has asked for or is interested.
Most officers now obtain everything they require through the internet, according to authority bosses, and a review has led to the council taking on the organisations which are sending the junk mail in a bid to stop it at source.
In the last few weeks more than 150 companies have been asked to take the council off their distribution and subscription lists and those which send cold calling mail are having the items returned to sender.
Councillor Paul Rigby, whose responsibilities cover finance and efficiency, said: "I could not believe the amount of junk mail that is sent to the council every day. It must cost these companies a fortune to produce and send some of the glossy brochures that are just put straight in the recycling bins.
"Everything possible is being done to stop junk mail getting to the council in the first place so that the staff don't have to spend time distributing and disposing of it."
Officers at the council have estimated that hundreds of man-hours will be saved each year if they can put a stop to all the junk mail.