Postmasters angered by 'postboxes of the future'

Kevin May, who runs Barton Stacey Stores, has discouraged customers from using the new postbox

Postmasters in rural villages have warned automated "postboxes of the future" could wreak havoc on their businesses.

Kevin May, who runs Barton Stacey's post office near Andover, Hampshire, said his business could lose hundreds of pounds every year if people use the new postbox outside instead.

"[The post office] has been here, we believe, for about 200-odd years and I would absolutely hate for us to be the last postmasters to be able to serve this village," he said.

The Royal Mail, which is planning to install thousands of the postboxes around the country, said it had received "positive feedback" from customers.

It announced it was going to install 3,500 of the new solar-powered postboxes around the country in the summer.

Items as large as a shoebox can be posted into them and the Royal Mail said their introduction was the "biggest redesign in its 175-year history".

Kate Brealey, a postmaster in Bradfield Southend in Berkshire, ran a successful campaign supported by hundreds of people to keep the village's current postbox rather than getting a new version.

"I was incensed that Royal Mail would put a postbox right outside the post office that would take customers away from using us and affect our remuneration and our viability," she said.

Kimiko Dearing, the chairman of Bradfield Parish Council, helped the campaign and said its post office served as the village's hub.

"I can understand [the new postboxes] being the future for other areas, say in commuter areas where people are in a rush and it's not so easy to get to a post office. But in a nice, rural village, I don't think they're necessary," she added.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "Our new postboxes of the future offer another convenient way for customers to access Royal Mail's services, alongside home delivery and collection, our Customer Service Points, Post Office branches, lockers and Royal Mail Shop outlets.

"We're pleased to see positive feedback from customers in areas where the new postboxes have already been introduced, and we're hopeful that local residents will find them just as useful and convenient."