Humberside - Postal Counties

Postal Counties

The Royal Mail did not adopt Humberside as a postal county, instead dividing the area into North Humberside and South Humberside for purposes of directing mail with effect from 1 July 1975. Counties ceased to form part of addresses in 1996. Under the Royal Mail's flexible addressing policy, in force since that date, users can choose to add a county to an address as long as the post town and postcode are included. The policy allows for the use of either the "former postal", "traditional" or "administrative" county. The Postcode Address File Code of Practice does not allow for changes in the former postal county. In 2008 the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm) announced that it was holding a public consultation into the code. Accordingly, local council leaders and members of parliament asked that Postcomm recommend the deletion of North and South Humberside from postal databases. The recommendations were expected to be issued in late summer 2009 and a decision made by the end of the year.