Royal Mail to take on more than 30,000 temporary workers to 'deliver Christmas' during pandemic

The postal service usually hires between 15,000 and 23,000 extra staff between October and January to help sort the additional volumes of parcels, cards and letters.

But more workers are needed this year to cope with an increased number of parcels, caused by a surge in online shopping.

The seasonal workers will support over 115,000 permanent postmen and women who sort and deliver the mail all year round.

More than 13,000 mail centre sorting posts will be available in England. Workers will also be required for Royal Mail’s new Covid-19 testing kit collection team.

Sally Ashford, chief HR officer, said: “During these unprecedented times we believe it is critical that Royal Mail continues to deliver.

“We want to do our best to deliver Christmas for our customers and support the effort on the pandemic.

“This helps the whole country to celebrate and stay safe during these difficult times.”

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