More than 130 extra workers have been taken on by the Royal Mail in Shropshire as it gears up to deliver millions of items in the run-up to Christmas.

About 24,500 Royal Mail postal employees across the Midlands and Wales will be joined by an extra 4,000 seasonal workers. That includes an extra 134 temporary staff at the mail centre in Shrewsbury.

They will be working round the clock to collect, sort and deliver cards, letters and parcels.

The Christmas operation in the region will also involve an additional 662 vehicles on top of the normal 5,300 fleet.

It is expected to deal with:

* 22 million cards, letters and parcels for the SY postcode
* 13 million for the TF postcode, which includes Telford, Newport and Market Drayton
* Four million for the LD postcode, which includes Llandrindod Wells

Paul Jobling, Royal Mail regional operations director for the Midlands, said: “This is the busiest time of year for Royal Mail in the Midlands area.

“Our postmen and women, as well as the extra seasonal staff we have taken on, will be working to collect, sort and deliver the Christmas mailbag to every community served by our mail centres.”

Alex Warner, Royal Mail regional operations director for Wales said: “As we do every year, we encourage people to post early and order presents early to help us spread the workload of handling around two billion items in the run up to Christmas.”

To help Royal Mail at its busiest time of the year, customers are being encouraged to take a few simple steps.

They include posting early – the last posting dates this Christmas for second class mail is December 17, for first class mail December 20 and for special delivery December 22.

For sending mail overseas, December 12 is the last date for airmail items to Western Europe, December 9 for Eastern Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan and December 5 for mail to the rest of the world.