Huge numbers of gift parcels are being sent to service personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq as Christmas approaches.

Since December last year to has been free for soldiers' families to send gifts and in October the number of post bags topped the 46,000 mark.

Take a trip to your sorting office and see how they are coping with the pre-Christmas rush.

Are extra staff being taken on to cope with the demand or is there still minimal awareness about the gratis postage?