Sheffield to get one of UK’s first Royal Mail parcel post boxes
The company has said 1,400 of the new postboxes will be installed across the country in more than 30 locations over a six-month period, starting in August, with Sheffield among the first places to get one.
Customers will be able to post parcels in the same way that they currently post a letter, provided that postage has been pre-paid using Royal Mail's own online labelling service.
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Hide AdExisting letter postboxes were introduced in the 1850s and Royal Mail said the new move represented the first major change in the system since then.
"The launch of parcel postboxes is also one of the biggest innovations in parcels since the launch of Parcel Post in 1883," it added.
Mark Street, head of campaigns at Royal Mail, said: "We hope that the wider roll-out gives added flexibility to online sellers who might be running a business in their spare time and not keeping regular office hours."
People will also be able to return parcels using the system, as long as they have a Royal Mail barcode attached.
The full list of locations is:
Leeds
Newcastle & Tyneside
Sheffield
Warrington
Swindon
Nottingham
Romford
Manchester
Preston
London Central
Birmingham
Chelmsford
Chester
Greenford
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Bristol
Croydon
Poole
Aberdeen
Southampton
Belfast
Peterborough
Plymouth
Cardiff
Norwich
Swansea
Bournemouth
Exeter
Truro
Inverness
Carlisle