An MP is urging people to avoid sending cards with red envelopes, to help Royal Mail get every letter delivered as quickly as possible this Christmas.
The fluorescent orange codes printed on each envelope for scanning machines to register the address cannot be picked up if printed on a red envelope. This means every red envelope has to be sorted manually.
MP Tobias Ellwood urged companies and customers are urged to ditch red envelopes or add an address on a white sticker to aid the automated process and help the country's "hard-working posties" after he visited a Royal Mail sorting office earlier this month.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: “As the universal service provider, Royal Mail is proud to deliver the Christmas post for consumers and businesses.
"Our Intelligent Letter Sorting Machines can process up to 50,000 items an hour. Anything the machines are unable to read are almost instantaneously passed through to our data centre, where our team of ‘address detectives’ identify the correct address.
"There is no impact on the delivery timescale for the customer. Customers are welcome to use any form of envelope or ink for their Christmas cards. The only advice we always offer - is to always use the postcode.”
Royal Mail has recommended a series of last posting dates to ensure people get their cards in time for Christmas – second class is tomorrow, first class is Saturday and special delivery, next Tuesday.
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