Four of our iconic red post boxes have been painted black to honour BAME Britons

Four red post boxes have been painted black to honour black Britons, including Sir Lenny Henry and 19th-century nursing pioneer Mary Seacole.

Royal Mail said the boxes in London, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast have been transformed as part of Black History Month in October.

Each box names a significant figure in the British black community with footballer Walter Tull and artist Yinka Shonibare also honoured.

A QR code on the boxes can be scanned to bring up a full list of the black Britons who have appeared on special stamps over the years.

The London box, featuring Mr Shonibare, is in Brixton. Sir Lenny is honoured in Belfast, Mr Tull – the first black player for Rangers – in Glasgow and Mrs Seacole in Cardiff, pictured.

Peter De Norville, Royal Mail’s head of diversity and inclusion, said: ‘Black History Month is a great opportunity to celebrate the contributions that black people have made to this country over many generations.

‘We are also using it as an opportunity to celebrate the vital work that our black employees do throughout the nation, from the mail bag to the meeting room.’

The aim is for the postboxes to help people mark the success of black Britons, Royal Mail said.

The London postbox is in Acre Lane in Brixton, which is near to Black Cultural Archives – a leading museum for the British black community.

In Cardiff, the black postbox celebrating Black History Month features Mary Seacole

This box features the image Queuing at the RA by Yinka Shonibare.

He said: ‘As a citizen of the commonwealth, it was particularly important to me to be making a visible contribution in a historic public space.’

Footballer Walter Tull, who become the first black player for Rangers, appears on the Glasgow postbox, in Byres Road in the city’s West End.

He featured in a set of stamps released in 2018 to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, and was also the first black Army officer to command troops in a regular unit.

He was killed in action during the war.

Mary Seacole, who nursed wounded British soldiers back to health during the Crimean War and built a dedicated place for them to recuperate known as the British Hotel, appears on the Cardiff postbox at King Edward VII Avenue.

Sir Lenny Henry, the stand-up comedian, actor, singer, writer and television presenter and co-founder of the Comic Relief charity, is honoured by the postbox in Bedford Street, Belfast.