post boxes

Now it takes some planning to steal one of the most iconic features of the rural English landscape but just in case you were planning on such an act read on and beware!

Forensic tags and electronic tracking are among proposals set out by the Royal Mail and Historic England to preserve the country’s post boxes.

There are some 85,000 boxes – the classic pillars and others mounted on walls or posts – across England, and about 115,300 in the UK

Royal Mail has pledged to conserve them in their existing locations.

Forensic tags are invisible markers, usually liquids, which show up under ultra-violet light in cases of theft.

The new commitments are contained in a joint policy document between Royal Mail and Historic England.

They update the original policy document from 2002 to recognise changes in legislation and allow for recent developments, such as painting 110 post boxes gold to celebrate London 2012 British Olympic and Paralympic champions.

New measures in the document include the use of forensic tags, permanent metal marking and electronic tracking to discourage the theft and damage of boxes.

Permanent metal marking and forensic tagging allows police to identify the origin of a post box if it sold as metal or as a post box.