Olympic Post Boxes To Remain Gold

Post boxes painted gold during the summer to celebrate the gold medals of the British Olympic and Paralympics teams are to remain so on a permanent basis.

The Royal Mail made the announcement today that the 110 gold post boxes across the UK will not be re-painted in the traditional red colour.

The post boxes are also set to get plaques which name each athlete and celebrate their gold medal achievement.

Pictures of the boxes have been circulating on the web and members of the public continue to visit them.

The most northerly post box to be painted gold is in Lossiemouth, Scotland to celebrate Heather Stanning’s rowing victory with partner Helen Glover. Coincidentally, Helen Glover’s post box in Penzance is the most southerly location.

Painting the post boxes gold was the idea of the Royal Mail. It has also released gold medal stamps for every gold medallist in both Games.

This is the first time in the company’s history that it has painted its iconic post boxes a different colour permanently to mark an historic achievement.

Moya Greene, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail Group, said; "We are delighted at the way people took to this simple idea.

"The gold post boxes gave communities even more opportunity to mark the successes of Team GB and Paralympics GB - and became a part of local celebrations of London 2012 across the UK. I am pleased to confirm that these post boxes will be kept gold permanently."

(IT)