UK Royal Mail newspaper service to be axed
The Royal Mail has confirmed plans to scrap a service allowing newspapers to be sent first-class for the price of second-class postage.
The Newspaper Registration Service was established about 150 years ago to promote literacy and freedom of information across the United Kingdom.
It came at a time when newsagents were few and far between, especially in rural areas.
A regular reminder of the scheme is the wording “Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office” which appears in small letters on the back page of every copy.
It would disappear if the Royal Mail goes ahead with its plans to scrap the service which it says is no longer commercially viable and which costs it £7m a year.