ROYAL MAIL SOUNDS LAST POST FOR COUNTIES

Counties are to be removed from postal addresses on letters and parcels.

The Royal Mail is likely to have deleted county names from the official Postcode Address File that is used by private companies and public bodies by 2016.

More than 100 obsolete postal names such as Sussex, Gwynned, Cleveland and Avon will be the first to go, followed by all current county names, because the postal service needs only the house number, street name and postcode.

Ian Beesley, the chairman of the board that advises Royal Mail on running the database, said county names had become "a kind of vanity attachment" because it was no longer necessary for business and administrative purposes.

He admitted that some people may be upset when the names of centuries-old counties stopped being used.  "People do get very worked up about it and one has to recognise it," he said.  "It is in our heritage.  I want to say I was born in Lancashire, not in 'M20'."

"People will still use counties, but for postal purposes you don't need it."

Daily Telegraph, July 31, 2010