A Clydebank MSP has urged Royal Mail to reverse plans to cut the opening hours of the town’s delivery office.

Labour’s Katy Clark slammed postal service bosses after they revealed plans to push back opening times across the UK, including those of the Clydebank mail hub.

Under the new proposals, the local delivery office will open nearly an hour and a half later than it does currently, meaning no office open in the region before 8am.

And Ms Clark, who represents West Scotland for Scottish Labour, said she would be writing to Royal Mail to make clear her objections.

She said: “This proposed shakeup will mean that some people will be waiting until late in the afternoon to get their post.

“For areas like West Dunbartonshire these changes will have a really worrying and disproportionate impact.

“This shakeup will also dramatically change the working patterns of postal staff, who would be expected to work up to five hours in the height of summer heat or the darkness of winter.

“It also comes at a time when workers are being asked to accept a serious real terms pay cut during a cost-of-living crisis.

“These changes show why we need a publicly owned postal service, more accountable to citizens. I will be writing to the Royal Mail to demand they’re not taken forward.”

According to the Royal Mail’s own data, the current average start time for full-time employees at the Clydebank delivery office is 6.54am, with the finishing time being 2.18pm.

They say the start time of a delivery office is based primarily on full-time employees.

The new proposed time will be a start time of 8.20am, creating fears that customers and businesses won’t get their mail until much later in the day.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We are in discussion with the Communication Workers Union about moving start times later to meet the growing customer demand for more next-day parcel deliveries and to reduce our environmental impact by moving more mail by rail over time.

"We have made it clear that these proposals are all subject to further discussion and detailed design, and no plans have been finalised.

"More parcel companies are now delivering later into the evening to meet changing customer needs, and we are redesigning our network to deal with growing numbers of parcels, including investing in two new Super Hubs.

"As part of our ongoing planning, we are exploring a number of changes that would mean that we would still deliver letters by 5pm, as opposed to by 4pm currently."