PUBLISHED: 11:34 11 October 2019 | UPDATED: 11:41 11 October 2019
Archant
The Royal Mail is introducing a wave of new-style parcel post boxes across Suffolk and Essex which means traders can send parcels 24/7.
Traders are now able to post parcels 24 hours a day, seveb days a week.
These larger postboxes have wider apertures and a secure design and are intended for online customers who use the pre-paid postage system, to send or return their parcels seven days a week.
The launch of parcel postboxes is one of the biggest innovations in parcels since the launch of the parcel post in 1883, and is linked to the explosion of internet and web-based buying and selling in the UK.
Across the country 1,400 meter boxes are being converted to the new use.
This one is in Lloyds Avenue, Ipswich in the heart of the town centre and next to the Cornhill.
Small businesses, marketplace sellers and individuals will be able to use the boxes in the same way as they post a letter, so long as they pre-paid through the Royal Mail’s Click & Drop labelling system.
Parcels must include a Royal Mail barcode on them to use the service.
Across Essex and South Anglia the first 37 boxes have been converted including CM, CO and IP postcodes, such as Bury St Edmunds, Felixstowe and Bury St Edmunds.
It is one of the biggest postal innovations in 160 years.
Mark Street head of campaigns at Royal Mail said: “The introduction of parcel postboxes in the Essex and South Anglia areas means that customers can now send parcels with pre-paid postage and their returns in the same way that they do letters. The new parcel postboxes provide added flexibility to online sellers who might be running a business in their spare time and not keeping regular office hours.”
Here’s where to find the new parcel postboxes
Skyliner Way, Bury St Edmnunds IP32
You may also want to watch:
St Andrews Street North, Bury St Edmunds IP33
Orwell House, Ferry Lane, Felixstowe IP11
Route Master, Walton Avenue, Felixstowe IP11
Farthing Road Business Box, Ipswich IP1
Goddard Road East, Ipswich IP1
Lloyds Avenue Business Box, Ipswich IP1
Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate, Ipswich IP2
Lion Barn Industrial Estate, Needham Mkt IP6
Royal Mail, Thetford IP24
Meter Post, Woodbridge IP12