PEOPLE in Swindon are being urged to get into the festive spirit as soon as possible this year by Royal Mail six weeks ahead of the big day.

Recent storms and rail chaos have caused severe disruption to postal services and the Post Office is forecasting more problems ahead.

Now it is urging people to post their cards and parcels before the end of November if they want to ensure they arrive on time.

In a normal week, 5.5 million items of mail are handled in Swindon.

Predicted Post Office figures show this will rise to 7.4 million in the week beginning November 27, and then to 10.3 million in the week beginning December 4.

By December 11 this will have peaked at 12.6 million mail items being handled in the town.

The postal system is already overloaded because autumn is the time companies send out their new brochures and catalogues.

And the train delays and cancellations which are set to continue at least until Christmas are adding to the strain the Post Office is under.

Post Office spokesman Adrian Booth said: "At least 25 per cent of all mail travels at some point during its journey by rail.

"There are 500 speed restrictions in place at the moment on tracks and mail trains are arriving between one and three hours late.

"Late arrival can mean that by the time our staff go out on delivery, they don't have all the mail they would usually have on that route.

"We therefore rely heavily on second deliveries but not all areas have these.

"We take mail to Swindon from anywhere and vice versa, so a delay in any one part of the country can affect delivery here.

"This year more than ever we are therefore urging people to post early any time from now."

Throughout the UK, the Post Office predicts mail volumes will nearly double to around 150 million items.

Traditionally people wait until the last possible moment to post their Christmas greetings, but as well as placing a burden on the postal system this also creates a huge pressure on workers.

Mr Booth added: "Encouraging early posting helps busy postal staff throughout the UK. Cards are an artistic thing to receive at any time of year."

so I am sure people will appreciate getting them a little earlier this year."