news story

14th December 2009

MP Delivers Christmas Good Wishes to Local Postal Staff

Steve Webb MP at the Yate sorting office with local postal workers

Northavon MP Steve Webb has paid a pre-Christmas visit to Royal Mail postal staff in Thornbury and Yate. Since he was first elected to Parliament in 1997, the MP has taken up the annual invitation from the Royal Mail to make an early morning visit to local sorting offices to wish staff well at this very busy time of year. Steve Webb said:

"Our local postmen and postwomen do a vital job in all types of weather and it is nice to have the opportunity to say a personal word of thanks. The mail sacks seem to get heavier every year, particularly as internet shopping becomes more common and packages of books and CDs have to be delivered. It was also clear that e-mail has not taken the place of the traditional Christmas card, with very large numbers of personal cards to be sorted and delivered".

Although some of the post that reaches local sorting offices has been pre-sorted at regional centres such as Filton, the volume at this time of year means that a lot of manual sorting is still needed in the local offices. Postal staff reach the offices long before dawn and can still be finishing off their rounds early in the afternoon, especially around Christmas time.