Post town

A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. Including the correct post town in the address increases the chances of a letter or parcel being delivered on time.

Organised at the convenience of the Royal Mail, each post town corresponds to one or more postcodes and each post town can cover an area including many individual towns and villages. Post towns rarely correspond to political boundaries and often group places that for all other purposes are quite separate.

The Royal Mail states that the post town must be included on all items of mail immediately above the postcode and should be printed in capitals.

1 Valance Road

LONDON

E2 1AA

The system means that some addresses will have post towns that correspond to a place nearby, or cover a very large area. To give further direction an additional line can be added above the post town giving a more specific location name. This is only required if there are two or more similar street addresses within the post town area.

1 Valance Road

Bethnal Green

LONDON

E2 1AA

See also

• List of postal districts in the United Kingdom gives the post town for each district
• List of postal areas in the United Kingdom — the main postal sorting centres
• Postcode

External links

• List of UK post towns
• Information etc. from UK postal service