Ian McCartney MP

Makerfield MP Ian McCartney paid a visit to Wigan’s Royal Mail delivery office on Hallgate today at the invitation of Royal Mail Management.

In the run up to Christmas an expected seasonal postbag of about 2 billion letters, cards and parcels will be delivered to homes across the nation

The festive season will see post office staff deliver about 110 million pieces of post a day. That is 28 million more than on a normal day. Last Christmas, Britain’s postmen and women made sure that a staggering 2.1 billion cards, letters and packages got to 27 million addresses throughout the country.

An increase in the volume of internet sales from businesses like Amazon is playing a major part in the volume of mail being handled at the Wigan office with over 16,000 parcels a week originating from the internet giant and other online retailers. This compares to an average week of approx 8,000 parcels.

Ian McCartney MP said, “Whilst for some, Christmas is a slow time of year with parties and festive frolics, for our local postal staff it is the busiest time of year. I am sure many will share my gratitude for the hard work they do in spreading the Christmas cheer - particular to families and friends that can't be together. They really are an army of Santa's helpers."

“It was wonderful to see the mountains of mail being dealt with so efficiently and expertly. After spending some time with the men and women who work at the Wigan office my admiration for the work they do knows no bounds. We owe them a great deal - especially at Christmas.”