LONDON, July 10 (UPI) -- People have gotten so used to writing e-mails they have lost the art of writing complaint letters to businesses, a British author says.

Martin Staniforth has written a number of letters to corporations and organizations, and said letters always produce better results than e-mails, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"Part of the problem with an e-mail is it is all too easy to fire off an angry rant," Staniforth told the newspaper. The author is due to speak on the issue at the Ways With Words literary festival in south Devon, England, Tuesday.

E-mails "might make you feel good, but it is no way of getting an organization to respond," he said.

Staniforth's letters, which often pose ridiculous questions, and their responses have been compiled into a book called "Humps for 140 Yards a decade of letters posing small minded questions to high-minded people."

The title is from his first letter to his local council, the newspaper said -- asking why, when his children were taught about meters, was the sign outside in yards?