A pillar box in Tavistock town centre has been sealed off in preparation for it becoming one of the Royal Mail’s new solar-powered post boxes.

Royal Mail has confirmed that the pillar box outside Continental Fruits on Brook Street is set to be replaced by a solar-powered ‘post box of the future’.

It is one of 3,500 solar-powered postboxes being rolled out across the country to allow customers to return parcels up to the size of a shoebox without needing to go to a post office.

The parcels are slotted into a fold-down drawer activated by the solar panel on the top of the box.

Customers scan a return code for the parcel using the Royal Mail app.

A letter slot will remain for posting letters in the traditional way.

The pillar box, sealed up with plastic, currently carries the notice: ‘Out of service, automated system coming soon’.

Included is a QR code which people are invited to scan to find out where the nearest alternative post box is. In other parts of Tavistock, post boxes will remain unchanged.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "Our new postbox of the future will offer another convenient way for customers in Tavistock to access Royal Mail's services, alongside home delivery and collection, our Customer Service Points, Post Office branches, lockers and Royal Mail Shop outlets.

“We’re pleased to see positive feedback from customers in areas where the new postboxes have already been introduced, and we’re hopeful that Tavistock residents will find them just as useful and convenient.”