Thanks a bunch! How some mothers are set to lose out...

THERE are few things mothers love as much as being sent fresh flowers.

But firms have been accused of letting many down for Mother’s Day by not delivering to parts of Scotland.

Nationalist MSP Richard Lochhead has highlighted constituents in the north who are unable to order a gift delivery this weekend. It is part of his Fair Delivery Charges campaign, exposing unfair fees for some rural areas.

A Moray constituent tried to arrange a bouquet from Arenaflowers.com. It offered ‘20 per cent off our Mother’s Day collection’. But at the checkout process they were told: ‘Postcode is unavailable. We may not be able to deliver to the address you have chosen.’ After calling the firm, it was confirmed it does not deliver to Moray.

Waitroseflorist invites customers to ‘surprise mum with a beautiful bouquet’. But on being given address details for Moray, its website says: ‘Sorry, orders cannot be delivered to this postcode.’

Tesco Direct says: ‘Order now for free delivery on Mother’s Day.’ But customers in the North were told: ‘Sorry, items sold by Tesco cannot be delivered to your address.’ Mr Lochhead said it was the ‘latest snub’ for Highland shoppers, adding: ‘Rural consumers are… constantly faced by hidden fees and extortionate surcharges.’

A Tesco spokesman said it tried to deliver to as many customers as possible but: ‘To ensure our flowers arrive in good condition, we are unable to offer home delivery to all locations.’

A Waitrose spokesman said: ‘Unfortunately we are not able to deliver flowers to everywhere we’d like because the time they’d need to spend in transit would compromise their quality.’

ArenaFlowers.com said it encouraged customers to choose products from its Letterbox range, which are ‘hardier and specifically designed to be delivered by Royal Mail’.