ROYAL Mail is recruiting 200 more temporary staff in Southampton to handle its bumper festive mail bag.

Southampton Mail Centre expects to handle more than 12 million items of mail each week in the four weeks leading up to Christmas.

It is nearly double the volume of mail that normally passes through the centre in Mitchell Way near the airport, which already employs 500 staff.

Tina Baker, resourcing service manager for Royal Mail in the South West said: “Mail volumes increase dramatically throughout December and it is important that we recruit the additional temporary postmen and women to help us deal with customers’ Christmas greetings.

“The operation at Mitchell Way operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week so there are a variety of shift patterns including, weekend and part-time evening work for people who may want to earn some extra money before Christmas.”

The work involves sorting and bagging mail, and loading and unloading containers and mail trucks.

Royal Mail says its new recruits will need to be punctual, reliable, able to work to tight deadlines, lift mailbags weighing up to 11kg and stand for long periods of time.

The temporary staff are needed to start work at the beginning of December.