Royal Mail is trialling a new service where posties will bring pre-printed postage labels to customers who use the Royal Mail Parcel Collect service. This means that customers without a printer can now use Parcel Collect, saving their time and reducing the inconvenience of having to leave home to drop off a parcel.

The new service is being trialled in Bath, Cheltenham, Doncaster and Newton Mearns. The trial is an extension of the Parcel Collect service, which lets customers arrange a collection from their doorstep.

The trial will see Royal Mail supplying and delivering labels to customers who live in the trial areas and request that option when ordering a collection. I’m really liking this as there are plenty of people who either live off their mobile phones and don’t have a printer, or indeed people like my elderly mum who I might want to book a parcel collection on her behalf so that she doesn’t even have to use the Internet!

Customers using the Royal Mail Parcel Collect simply have to send a parcel, book a collection and select that they would like a self-adhesive, pre-printed postage label to be brought by their postie when their parcel is being collected.

Parcel Collect can currently only be used by customers who are able to print postage labels at home. This new feature is designed to make it easy to send parcels from home for customers who don’t have access to a home printer. It is also much more convenient for customers who are short of time and don’t want to leave home to drop off a parcel.

Parcel Collect has enabled postmen and postwomen to collect parcels and returns from customers while they carry out their daily round. As part of the service, postmen and postwomen will collect a parcel from the customer’s door or nominated safe place. Around two and a half million parcels have already been collected by posties since the launch of the service last year.

Royal Mail Parcel Collect is available six days a week and can be booked up to five days in advance and up to midnight the day before.