Why Royal Mail postboxes are being taped up across Kent

Postboxes are being taped up across Kent as Royal Mail introduces upgraded solar-powered versions that can be used to send parcels.

Residents have noticed many of the iconic pillar boxes wrapped in black plastic in recent months, along with a sign reading: “Out of service. Automated system coming soon.”

It comes as so-called “postboxes of the future” are being rolled out across the country which will allow residents to send and return packages as well as letters.

The redesigned postboxes feature a barcode scanner and a drop-down drawer for parcels, a solar panel to power the technology, and a separate slot for letters.

Customers will be able to send parcels up to the size of a shoebox and track their items using the Royal Mail app, bosses say.

The postal firm is carrying out a nationwide rollout of 3,500 upgraded postboxes following a successful pilot in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire in April last year.

More than 100 are already live across Kent, but chiefs say they will not reveal future locations as sites “are still liable to change”.

A postbox outside the Premier store in Kingsnorth Road, Ashford, was recently taped up, while two “postboxes of the future” are already up and running in the area – outside Stanhope Post Office and High Halden Old Post Office.

Bosses say the rollout reflects a “sharp increase” in parcel deliveries as online shopping continues to grow, including second-hand marketplaces.

But it comes as Royal Mail faces complaints of delayed mail and parcels being prioritised over letters.

Last week, the firm warned of potential service delays across more than 100 UK postcodes – none of which are in Kent – as storms and workers being off sick cause disruption.

A spokesman for the company said that “adverse weather, including storms Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra in January, alongside higher-than-usual sick absence, has caused some short-term disruption to certain routes”.

Commenting on the new postboxes, the spokesman said they offer “another convenient way for customers in Kent to access Royal Mail’s services”.

“We’re pleased to see positive feedback from customers in areas where the postboxes have already been introduced, and we hope that local residents will find them just as useful and convenient,” they added.

“The turnaround for upgrades can be several weeks as each box is individually measured, the existing door is taken off and the new door must be transported from our engineering centre in Gloucester.

“The boxes are wrapped to protect them from the weather or vandalism during the upgrade.

“In the meantime, residents can use another nearby postbox (they can locate these via our Services Near You page, which is signposted on a notice on the out-of-service postboxes) or hand stamped letters to their postman or woman.”