THE festive season is in full swing for postal workers around the country as they battle to process the tidal wave of mail that washes up in sorting office’s everyday.

It’s nothing new that the festive period means thousands of Christmas presents and cards are passed through the delivery office ahead of the big day. The reality of it though, is mind-blowing.

Every year, Royal Mail issues its annual campaign urging the public to post their Christmas cards early to ensure they arrive on time.

However, Hexham delivery office manager, Tim Pearson, said that tradition seems to have died out.

“The dynamic at Christmas is changing every year. We used to have the ‘Christmas pressure’ – a two week period where deliveries were ramped up,” he said.

“But now with ‘cyber Monday’ happening in November, the rush lasts months.”

With 74 staff working at the Hexham office, and with around 45,000 letters and parcels arriving over the festive season, Tim praised their work in the local area.

“Postal workers are still an important part of the community. Here, we have fantastic staff with a wide depth of local knowledge.”

Deputy manager, Luke Pencott, is in charge of sorting the mail and organising it into a sequential order of post codes to send out.

He said: “The festive period has an element of stress, but you have to keep positive. Everyone here has a team mentality where we all work together.”

Despite the dedicated work, Royal Mail urges people not to leave it until its too late.