New parcel hub in Crick will also see Royal Mail trial parcel deliveries on Sundays as customer demand surges

The move is aimed at tapping into the seven-days-a-week delivery market as more consumers expect Sunday deliveries as part of their online shopping.

In the past year, Royal Mail said it has processed unprecedented parcel volumes, delivering 496 million in the third quarter ending December 27.

Royal Mail said its second, and largest, parcel hub at DIRFT will have the capacity to process more than one million parcels a day.

Chief commercial officer Nick Landon said: “The UK already trusts us to deliver their purchases six days a week both quickly and conveniently. Now, for the first time, our posties will be doing the same thing seven days a week.

“The past year has reset so many customer expectations and the desire for even more convenient and even more frequent parcel deliveries has certainly been one of them.

“We always listen to our customers, both senders and recipients, and the ask here was clear: we love what you do Monday to Saturday, so please do the same on a Sunday.

“So that’s what we’re doing, as quickly as possible, so we can offer it to more and more customers across the course of this year.”

The new centre is due to open in 2023. It will include a vehicle operating centre, a fleet workshop facility, new staff facilities and a rail terminal, enabling an increase in the amount of mail transported efficiently and sustainably.