THE Christmas postbags will be bulging in East Anglia this festive season with more than 275 million items expected to be sent. Some 1,417 extra staff will be taken on in the region to handle the rush, as Royal Mail braces itself for the biggest ever Yuletide mailbag.

THE Christmas postbags will be bulging in East Anglia this festive season with more than 275 million items expected to be sent.

Some 1,417 extra staff will be taken on in the region to handle the rush, as Royal Mail braces itself for the biggest ever Yuletide mailbag.

Letters and parcels will be delivered to 2.1 million private addresses and 170,010 businesses in East Anglia over the Christmas period, while mail will be collected from 9,822 post boxes.

And, for those who want to ensure their presents and seasonal best wishes get to their destinations on time, the last posting dates have also been released.

In the UK December 23 is the cut-off for special deliveries, December 20 for first class and December 18 for second class.

For Airmail and Airsure, December 15 is the last day for Western Europe, December 12 for the USA, Canada and Eastern Europe and December 8 for anywhere outside Europe.

Any letters for Santa himself should be stamped and posted by December 12, addressed to Santa, Reindeerland, SAN TA1.

Royal Mail is also offering advice to customers which should improve the speed and efficiency of their Christmas deliveries:-

Always include the postcode, which can be obtained by calling 08457 111222 or by visiting www.royalmail.com and clicking on 'postcode finder.'

Write the address clearly, including the name of the postal town and postcode in capitals on their own lines.

Include the full sender's address on the back of the envelope.

Make sure you have paid the right postage and used the correct stamps – you can ensure this by weighing your mail at any post office branch.

Always wrap and protect goods properly, particularly fragile ones.

If sending foodstuffs, always mark the package 'perishable.'

There will be no deliveries or collections between Christmas Day and December 28.

Postcode area Normal mail Christmas mail

CB 14.8m 23.6m

CM/CO 52m 68.4m

IP 20.4m 26.2m

NR 24.8m 30.3m