FESTIVE folk are being urged to post early this Christmas as a result of rail service disruption.

Royal Mail says it is putting into place alternative arrangements to ensure Christmas mail arrives on time.

More than 200 million cards were posted in the North West during the four weeks leading up to Christmas last year.

Lorraine Whitehouse, Royal Mail's head of public relations in the North West, said: "The railways carry more than 20 million letters on an ordinary day and as many as 60 million a day in the run up to Christmas.

"We have brought in unprecedented extra air and road services to counter the rail problems, but we need customers to help out as well by posting earlier than usual. "If people can, they should write their cards during the weekend December 9 and 10 and get them in the post straight away, rather than leaving them to the last minute."

She added: "Although the last recommended posting dates remain the same, these are based on the latest information from rail suppliers and they cannot guarantee their services. We will obviously update our customers if these dates change."

The latest recommended posting dates for cards and letters are:

Thursday, December 7, for air mail letters to destinations outside Europe.

Thursday, December 14, for letters being sent to Europe.

Monday, December 18, for greetings sent second class in the UK.

Thursday, December 21, for cards and letters sent first class in the UK.