Fun facts

1. Westfield Shopping Centre in East London is so big, it has its own postcode E20, which was previously the fictional location for BBC soap Eastenders. (Mirror)

2. There are an estimated 27 million postcodes across Britain (Postcodearea)

3. The Queens postcode is SWLA 1AA

4. UK Mail's national hub in Ryton-on-Dunsmore includes a state of the art sortation centre which has the capacity to sort up to 24,000 parcels per hour

5. UK Mail delivered its one billionth item of mail in October 2006

History of post

1852 – The first post box was built (Postalheritage)

1920 – Sending children by Parcel Post was officially forbidden in the USA (Express)

1959 – The first postcodes were introduced (Postalheritage)

2006 – UK Mail delivered its one billionth item of mail

2012 – More than 100 post boxes across Britain were painted gold for gold medal winners at the Olympics & Paralympics

What can and can't you send in the post?

Cans

1. Toy animals

2. Fake plants

3. Hip flasks

4. Sweet, sweet nothing

Cannots

1. Live animals or pets

2. Living plants

3. Alcohol or tobacco

4. Hopes and dreams