The wiki guidance for post_box:type=* describes the tagging for Meter Postboxes (Franked Mail only) and how they have transitioned to Parcel Postboxes (Parcels and Franked Mail). The tagging is specified as:
post_box:type=meter
The guidance also includes a comment to suggest that it would be better to tag these boxes with post_box:type=pillar and a new suitable value for post_box:design=*.
As of May 2026, these boxes are actually tagged in the following numbers:
845 x post_box:type=meter
100 x post_box:type=parcel
There are also approximately 30 note=* tags on boxes that specify the box caters for parcels.
Given that these boxes are pillars and that they display “Parcel Postbox” on their sides, I suggest that the inconsistency in tagging could be resolved by transitioning to this tagging scheme:
post_box:type=pillar
post_box:design=parcel
Does anyone have any opinions on this? If there is agreement on this tagging scheme then I’ll document it in the wiki.
Note. Any mention of Parcel Postbox in this discussion is only meant to refer to the large rectangular boxes, with “Parcel Postbox” displayed on the side. It is not meant to refer to the modified post boxes formed from the Type A or Type B boxes that are being converted by the addition of a parcel drawer and solar panel, to accept parcels.
Given that there are now other designs of parcel box, I think it would be better to have a more specific unambiguous term for the old-style former meter mail boxes. Not sure exactly what that should be though. Do those boxes have a formal name for the design?
Good point, although I also don’t know what a more specific design name could be. I have checked a sample selection (WC1N 45P, EC2M 214P and B2 9001P) of boxes in Royal Mail’s Services Near You facility. I expected them to show as “Business Box” because that is what they used to show, but they now show as “Parcel”.
So, post_box:design=parcel might be our only viable option, unless anyone knows of another source of design names.
In April 2026, Royal Mail began rolling out 600 brand new Parcel Postboxes across the UK.
These new boxes are similar in shape and size to the Parcel Postboxes (former meter boxes), but they are solar-powered and have a barcode scanner, and apertures for parcels and letters. In other words, they function like the solar-powered converted Type A and Type B boxes.
The first box replaced BT15 371 (type_k) in York Street, Belfast. That might be an indication that the type_k boxes can’t be converted to solar-powered. The new box hasn’t appeared in Royal Mail’s Services Near You so far, so we don’t know what design name Royal Mail will use for the new post boxes. It could be “Parcel”, “Digital Parcel” or something completely different. I suggest that we wait until we know the design name that Royal Mail uses before establishing a tagging scheme for these new boxes.
In the meantime, unless anyone objects, I’ll update the wiki guidance for the existing unpowered Parcel Postboxes and add a placeholder for these new solar-powered Parcel Postboxes.
The Letter Box Study Group has published some details and pictures of this new type of box:
The new box has also appeared in Royal Mail’s Services Near You with a design name of “Digital Drop Box”. Apparently, it has a different number (BT15 8062P) from the type_k box that it replaced. So, the question is, how should this new type of box be tagged?
I envisage at least three options. My preference is for Option 3, but I’d be interested to know which option everyone else prefers, and whether there are any other options that should be considered.
Option 1
post_box:type=pillar
post_box:design=parcel
This tag should always be set (this is what distinguishes the box from an unpowered parcel box):
I think post_box:design should be specific to the individual box design, so we’d want different values for the old-style meter boxes, the converted type_a pillars, and these new style parcel boxes.
It was suggested in the other discussion about design names and other tagging for the converted boxes, that the converted type_a pillars and the converted type_b pillars should have new design names. There was some pushback on that, along the lines of “the type a pillars and type b pillars are still type a pillars and type b pillars after the conversion”. But that was before we saw that Royal Mail had designated new design names for the converted type_a pillars and the converted type_b pillars, in Services Near You. Royal Mail labels the converted boxes as “Digital A Type Pillar” or “Digital B Type Pillar”. So, I agree, it would make sense to revisit that decision on tagging. If we follow Royal Mail’s design naming approach then we would have something like this:
New style parcel boxes, post_box:design=digital_drop_box
The other tags (electricity=solar, parcel_mail_in=yes, post_box:app=yes and post_box:parcel=yes) that have been discussed in this sphere could all continue to be used if applicable, but as optional tags. That would simplify the guidance on usage of these tags.
I am happy to go with this approach. What does everyone else think; do we have a consensus?