Royal Mail extends deadline to use old stamps as new date they will become worthless revealed

STAMP DEADLINE EXTENDED: The ban on certain stamps will start six months later than planned (Image by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Reporting by Katie Harris

The ban on ‘old’ stamps without a barcode is being pushed back until the summer.

Royal Mail is rolling out new versions of stamps with machine-readable codes. The Express reports that these new stamps will be part of the bid to tackle fraud and make tracking post much easier.

But as the original January 31 deadline to use old stamps by draws closer, there have been fears that people around the country will be left with lots of unusable stamps. To avoid this, Royal Mail has now extended the deadline to July 31, 2023, giving people an extra six months to use non-barcoded stamps.

Read more: Royal Mail gives deadline dates to post your cards in time for Christmas

Post Office branches will also be providing forms so people are able to swap old stamps for new replacements. Previously, it was reported that customers would have to download and print a form to do this – which was proving difficult for some elderly people.

Tory MP Alexander Stafford, vice-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Philately Group, said: “The January deadline would have inevitably left many people with stamps that they had bought with their hard-earned cash and which would suddenly become completely useless.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Hopefully this extension will give older people extra time to ensure they don’t find themselves with stamps they can’t use. With so many older people now conscious of their spending, we know that every penny really does count.”

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