IT MAY be of interest to your readers to be know that the British parcel courier Parcelforce will not deliver to a PO box address in the UK. The item will simply travel to the UK and be returned undelivered. I believe ColiPoste - the parcel delivery service of La Poste - are aware of Parcelforce’s rules and La Poste should not accept parcels so addressed.
WILLIAM-GLYN THOMAS
Haute-Vienne

A spokesman for the Royal Mail Group, which owns Parcelforce, confirmed Parcelforce cannot deliver to PO boxes. This is because although it belongs to Royal Mail Group it is run as a separate firm and does not have access to PO boxes. Also Parcelforce deliveries must be signed for, which is not possible when delivering to a PO box.

A La Poste spokesman confirmed ColiPoste is the main service used for sending parcels (the alternative is the faster and more expensive Chronopost, which is also signed-for) and its UK partner is Parcelforce, therefore British PO Box numbers should not be used. A normal physical delivery address should be used.

He added that local post offices in France could not be expected to know the delivery practices for each foreign country and said a written complaint should be made to the branch from which the parcel was sent. If it is agreed the French service made an error you may be refunded.