Royal Mail is introducing 3,500 solar-powered "postboxes of the future" throughout the UK, equipped with a digitally activated drop-down drawer enabling customers to post parcels as big as a shoebox.

The new design – representing the most significant transformation to the postbox in its 175-year existence – underwent testing in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire earlier this year.

Now, they will be deployed in Manchester as well as other cities including Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield and Sunderland.

Users scan a barcode through the Royal Mail app to activate the drawer, which accommodates parcels too big to pass through the conventional slot.

The revamped boxes also include a separate slot for letters, plus a solar panel to operate the scanner and drawer system.

Proof of posting

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