Red parcel post boxes will be trialled by Royal Mail in Northampton and Leicester. Essentially post boxes with wider apertures, this will be the first change to the post box system in some 160 years.

Under the Royal Mail trial, small businesses and marketplace sellers will be able to post prepaid parcels into the post boxes in much the same way as people do posting letters. The pilot will last until November 5th.

According to the postal operator, they are repurposing existing media mail drop boxes so they have wider apertures while maintaining their secure design for larger items. The new parcel post boxes will make posting of larger prepaid parcels even more safe and convenient.

Under the pilot project, 17 parcel postboxes will be situated in Northampton and a further 13 in Leicester. At the end of the pilot project, Royal Mail will review customer feedback and usage before making a decision whether or not to introduce the scheme nationwide.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail Parcels, said “The trial of parcel postboxes is one of the many ways we at Royal Mail are looking to make the lives of customers easier, giving them more options that suit how they want to do business. The trial is aimed at giving more flexibility to online sellers who might be running a business in their spare time and not keeping regular office hours.”