Royal Mail issues warning to Brits yet to buy Christmas presents

Royal Mail have given Brits who haven't yet started their Christmas shopping a gentle kick up the backside.

The UK postal service and courier company encouraged people to rush to get their last bits online and in-store so that there is still enough time for you to wrap and mail them before the cut off point.

Royal Mail released its new collection of seasonal stamps at the start of November, hoping to prompt people to start writing their Christmas cards and to get their parcels sent out as soon as possible.

This year's lot are inspired by classic carols and feature festive lyrics from 'We Three Kings', 'Silent Night', 'O Little Town of Bethlehem', 'Away in a Manger' and 'O Holy Night' and are the first to feature the silhouette of King Charles.

The festive stamps also feature a barcode, which when scanned will take you to a Christmassy video starring Shaun the Sheep and his pals, which was created by the Aardman animation studio.

So, now you know what your sticking on your post, let's get to Royal Mail's delivery deadlines amid the Yuletide rush.

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Whether your making online orders or sending you're pal a gift and obsessively tracking your prezzie-filled parcel's every move, you need to be aware that the Christmas deadline for Tracked 24 post is just one week away.

This next day delivery option pinpoints your precious cargos every move, provides a photo on delivery and text or email notifications to recipients so they can make sure they are home on time.

Royal Mail said: "Order before 9am on Wednesday the 20th of December to give us time to make the Royal Mail's final day cut off for Tracked 24 post to arrive in time for Christmas."

To make sure your stuff arrives in time for the big day, you also need to send your 1st Class and 1st Class Signed For post by this date.

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Royal Mail Tracked 48, 2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For post have an even shorter time limit, as these need to be sent out by 18 December.

The postal service warned: "Allow plenty of time for posting. Please post items and gifts for Christmas early, particularly for International deliveries."

The deadline to make sure your postal deliveries that are being sent across the globe arrive by 25 December have sadly already passed, so it's bad luck if you haven't sent them by now.

If your sending cards and gifts to loved ones across the UK, you should send them by 18 December for second class, 19 December for first class and December 22 for special delivery.

Topics: UK News, News, Christmas

Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

@livburke_