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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Zoe Wood and Joanna Partridge

RARE PHOTOS: Royal mail trials postbox with parcel hatch solar panels and barcode scanner | Rare Historical Photos

View from above of the postbox, which has a solar panel on top
Royal Mail’s redesigned pillarboxes look as if they are wearing a jaunty beret. Photograph: Royal Mail

Royal Mail has unveiled a solar-powered “postbox of the future” with a built-in barcode reader and a hatch to accept parcels larger than letterbox size.

In the “biggest change to postbox design since their introduction more than 175 years ago”, the hi-tech pillar box looks as if it is wearing a jaunty beret. The black, chequered lid is in fact solar panels that power the scanner.

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