It’s not only Santa who will be busy this Christmas as Royal Mail staff work around the clock to handle a bumper festive postbag.

In an average week, 3.8 million pieces of mail pass through Bradford’s sorting office – but this week that figure shot up to 4.5m.

Festive postings reached two billion items last year with 750 million Christmas cards being sent through the post.

The busiest single day for this year was on Monday when about 12 million items were calculated to enter the Royal Mail’s system, compared to an average daily figure of eight million.

Buying gifts on the internet is on the up with 140 million items being delivered in time for Christmas Day.

Experts believe people are spending upwards of £13.1 billion on Christmas gifts and presents ordered online this year.

Today is the last day for sending first-class mail. But for valuable or last-minute Christmas gifts and cards Royal Mail is running a special delivery service with prices starting at £4.60. The last recommended posting date is Tuesday.

Bradford Mail Centre manager Simon Scott said: “Our operation in Bradford is going well.

“We’ve taken on 140 temporary staff in the mail centre and about 150 extra vehicles to deal with the three million items of mail which are going through the mail centre each day. All our people are working extremely hard to deliver all the Christmas cards, letters and parcels that we are receiving in time for Christmas.”