A firm in East Lancashire has become the latest company to ditch the Royal Mail and seek alternative parcel delivery services.

Express Gifts has followed in the footsteps of Amazon and John Lewis in seeking the services of alternative parcel delivery providers to make sure customers get their gifts on time.

The Citizen newspaper reports that the company is one of several in the region which are concerned that a national postal strike could be disastrous in the run up to Christmas.

Mike Damms from the East Lancashire Chamber of Trade said more and more firms are using alternative parcel delivery companies, with smaller firms in particular seeking help from providers such as Parcel2Go.com.

He added that those who rely on the Royal Mail to deliver to their customers face a nervous few months as things are likely to get pretty rough unless the CWU and the Royal Mail can reach an agreement and avert the strike.