Britain's Royal Mail postal service said stamp prices would rise from March 30 as it tries to offset the impact of a steadily falling number of letters to deliver each year.

Royal Mail said the price of first and second class stamps would both increase by one pence to 63p and 54p respectively.

The increase comes after a 2p rise for first class stamps and a 3p rise for second class stamps last year.

Royal Mail has seen letter volumes fall steadily in recent years and forecasts further drops of 4-6 per cent per year as more people use email and social media instead.

The trend has pushed the company to modernise its operations in order to better compete in a growing parcels market.-Reuters