CEREDIGION Preseli MP Ben Lake has visited posties in Llandysul to thank them for their hard work during their busiest time of year.

Around twice as many parcels and letters are sent through Royal Mail during the festive period and the Llandysul Delivery Office alone has four extra vehicles for the Christmas period.

Mr Lake visited postal workers at Llandysul Delivery Office last Friday (13 December) to find out more about what it takes to deliver letters and parcels in the peak Christmas period.

Christmas is Royal Mail’s busiest period, with around double the normal volume of letters and parcels processed.

Ben spoke to Customer Operations Manager Ryan Goellnitz about Royal Mail’s strategy to continue to make sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible over the festive period by adding more choice. This includes services like Parcel Collect, where posties pick up parcels from customers at the doorstep, and offering more ways to drop off parcels at convenient times and locations.

Royal Mail has already rolled out more than 5,000 parcel points this year, including at Collect+ stores and its growing number of parcel lockers.

Royal Mail prepares all year to deliver Christmas. Across the UK, the business has recruited 16,000 temporary workers to help its 85,000 posties sort the additional mail and increasing number of parcels expected over the festive period. Almost 4,000 new vans, trucks and trailers are being added to the fleet in time for Christmas.

Llandysul Delivery Office has hired four extra vehicles for the Christmas period to meet increased demand for deliveries in the local area.

Ryan Goellnitz, Customer Operations Manager for Llandysul, said: “It was great to have Ben visit our Delivery Office, and to show him how we are gearing up for our peak period. We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers.”

Mr Lake said: "It was a pleasure to visit the Llandysul Delivery Office and witness the incredible volume of post that Royal Mail manages, not only here but across the country. This is an essential service throughout the year, but the work and planning that go into ensuring everything runs smoothly during the festive period are truly extraordinary.

“I am immensely grateful for their tireless efforts and dedication, which deserve to be fully recognised. The visit gave me real appreciation for the hard work and commitment of everyone involved."