Postman Pat would be "worried" about sell-off,

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Royal Mail privatisation: Postman Pat would be "worried" about sell-off, says character's creator

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John Cunliffe He was speaking after the Government confirmed it was pressing ahead with a £3billion “fire sale” of the Royal Mail

Postman Pat would be “worried” by Government plans to privatise the Royal Mail, his creator revealed.

John Cunliffe said the kids’ favourite would be concerned about real-life posties.

He told the Daily Mirror: “He is very interested in people and people’s welfare. If he saw his colleagues were suffering from it, he would be worried.”

He was speaking after the Government confirmed it was pressing ahead with a £3billion “fire sale” of the Royal Mail in the face of widespread opposition.

Ministers plan to carry out a stock market flotation of the postal giant “in the coming weeks” in what opponents have labelled a desperate bid to bail out the Tory-led Coalition’s failed economic policies.

The Communication Workers Union has called a strike ballot to oppose the sell-off.

And yesterday Post Office managers backed industrial action in a dispute over pay. Brian Scott, from the Unite union, representing the managers, said: “This result sends a clear message to the employer.”

Writer Mr Cunliffe created Postman Pat, who lives in the village of Greendale, based on the valley of Longsleddale, near Kendal.

The first episode was broadcast in 1981 and then went on to become a massive favourite.

Mr Cunliffe, who lives in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, said he had an “open mind” about privatising the Royal Mail.

He said he was generally happy with the postal service he received.

But he added: “We get a lot of different people. That’s one of the effects of what is happening now.

“It is a little bit intermittent. The post usually comes, but it is a bit late in the day.

"I used to get it in the past at nine o’clock but now it is perhaps one o’clock. That would be my main grumble,” he said.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: “It’s telling that even Britain’s most famous postman is against ­privatisation.

"Pat would know that his customers in Greendale would suffer if Royal Mail is privatised.”