ROYAL Mail has hit back after residents were urged to avoid using red envelopes this Christmas.
Following reports that sorting office scanning machines were unable to recognise codes printed on envelopes, the postal service hit back to dismiss the claim.
Royal Mail released a statement this morning stating customers are welcome to use any form of envelope or ink for their Christmas cards
“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.”
The Royal Mail has recommended a series of last posting dates to ensure people get their cards in time for Christmas – second class is December 18, first class December 20 and special delivery, December 23.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here