Royal Mail may have been urging everyone to post early for Christmas - but in Addingham one resident claims villagers might not be able to post their mail at all.

Harry Rowlinson, of St Peter's Court, has complained to Royal Mail about the village's small post boxes always being full.

"When the Post Office is closed I have to go to Ilkley to post my letters. I have reached the end of my tether," said Mr Rowlinson, who often has large amounts of post because of his work with Neighbourhood Watch.

After an earlier complaint Royal Mail replaced the post box in Main Street with a larger one. But Mr Rowlinson said Royal Mail axed the early morning collection and the box filled up again by the afternoon.

He said that the post boxes in the village were not big enough to take into account the growth of population over the last few years and with all the new housing planned for Addingham, the situation would worsen.

He urged residents to complain to Royal Mail to make sure that promises to install new post boxes next year will be kept.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "The Royal Mail prides itself on responding to the needs of its customers. We have looked at the provision of post boxes in Addingham and we will be replacing the box outside the Post Office with a larger one.

"We will also be replacing two smaller boxes which are post mounted with pillar boxes in the very near future."

l Last recommended posting dates for Christmas are Friday, December 18 (second class) and Tuesday, December 22 (first class).

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