Behind the scenes of Royal Mail’s Falmouth delivery office at Christmas

It’s difficult for many of us to comprehend just how physically and mentally draining it is to work for Royal Mail at Christmas.

At one of the company’s Cornwall’s delivery offices, the mammoth task of dealing with hundreds of thousands of parcels and letters every Christmas is bestowed upon just a handful of staff.

December is an extremely busy time for the courier company, which does its very best to ensure cards and presents arrive to loved ones safely and on time.

Cornwall Live took a look behind the scene at the Falmouth delivery office to find out what goes on a week before Christmas.

On Tuesday morning, just over a week before the big day, the grey and red depot on Bickland Industrial Estate was heaving.

Inside, staff members proudly wearing Christmas jumpers and shirts were embroiled in organised chaos.

Three lorries full of letters and packages had arrived a few hours prior, and everything had to be sorted by the team before being ushered into the waiting vehicles.

“Last week we delivered a quarter of a million items in the TR10 and 11 postcode areas,” Simon Mills, collections and delivery manager, said.

This year is Mr Mills’ 39th Christmas with Royal Mail.

“We’ve had a very good December, very busy,” he added.

He explained that Royal Mail receives more and more packets each year.

“At this time of year obviously with online shopping taking its toll on the high street,” he said.

“We’re getting a lot more packets to deliver but we’re still able to cope with the dedication of our staff.”

In the lead up to Christmas, Royal Mail posties are out and about much longer to deliver parcels and letters.

Mr Mills said: “They’re out five to six hours now, normally they’re out three to four.”

As the odd Christmas song could be heard in the office, he said: “They’re all doing very well. We’re coping very well.”

What happens once the mail arrives in Cornwall?

All mail being sent in the post goes up to the sorting office in Truro. It is the post to be delivered which comes back to the delivery offices.

The depot, which covers Falmouth, Penryn and the many villages and homes in the TR11 and TR10 postcode areas, shifts as many as 250,000 items each week in the run-up to Christmas.

The day begins early, unloading the first lorry load of mail at 4am.

Large trolleys – known in the trade as yorks – which are piled high with parcels are each unloaded and sorted.

A large section of the depot is given over to the rural delivery routes, where letters and packages are sorted in order of addresses.

Once sorted, the post is packed into the depot’s fleet of vans which run their busy errands throughout the day.