If you’ve seen a sealed up postbox near you, it could soon be replaced by something more futuristic.
‘Postboxes of the future’ are heading to York soon.
One of them will be outside the Micklegate Post Office, where the current postbox is now sealed awaiting its fate.
Royal Mail is rolling out 3,500 solar-powered ‘postboxes of the future’ across the UK following a successful pilot earlier this year.
A spokesperson told YorkMix seven are being upgraded in the YO postcode area.
The new design allows customers to send and return labelled parcels – up to the size of a shoebox – through a postbox for the first time.
Customers can also request proof of posting, and track their parcel, using the Royal Mail app. This is also available for smaller parcels at any of the UK’s 115,000 postboxes.
The reimagining of the iconic red postbox is the biggest redesign in its 175-year history. The modern makeover includes:
- A barcode scanner which opens a drop-down drawer to place parcels that are larger than those that fit through the traditional postbox slot
- A solar panel, positioned due south for optimal sunlight, to power the scanner and drawer
- A separate slot for letters.
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.”
