Royal Mail rolling out 'postboxes of the future' with biggest change in 175 years

Royal Mail has announced the biggest design change in 175 years to its iconic red postboxes.

The postal service is rolling out 3,500 solar-powered "postboxes of the future" following a successful pilot earlier this year. The new design will feature a barcode scanner which will open a drop-down drawer for parcels.

This will be powered by a solar panel, which will be positioned south for optimal sunlight. Customers will be able to send and return labelled parcels up to the size of a shoebox thanks to the new design.

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There will also still be a separate slot for posting letters. Customers can request proof of posting, and track their post, using the Royal Mail app.

The new postboxes were piloted in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire in April and they are now rolling out across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The first cities to see them installed include Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Sunderland. Royal Mail is also expanding its number of parcel points.

There are now more than 23,500 locations where customers can send, return and collect parcels, including 2,000 lockers, 7,500 Collect+ stores, 11,500 Post Office branches, 1,200 Royal Mail Customer Service Points and 1,400 parcel postboxes.

Jack Clarkson, Managing Director of Out of Home and Commercial Excellence at Royal Mail, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.

“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.

“Our message is clear, if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”

It comes after Royal Mail was given permission by Ofcom to deliver second class post on alternate weekdays, instead of six days a week. Second class post will also not be delivered on Saturdays going forward.

But despite the reduced service, Royal Mail will still have a target for second class letters to arrive within three working days. First class post will still be delivered six days a week, Monday to Saturday.

At the time, the regulator Ofcom estimated that reducing second class deliveries would save Royal Mail between £250million and £425million.

As well as saving Royal Mail money, Ofcom said the decision was also due to fewer letters being delivered to UK homes. The number of letters has reduced from 20 billion twenty years ago, to 6.6 billion today.