Savvy shoppers from Chelmsford may be planning to order their Christmas hampers online ahead of the festive season after experiencing the benefits of purchasing gifts through the web.

New figures from the Royal Mail reveal more online orders were delivered by postmen in Chelmsford than any other area in the UK, the Essex County Standard reports.

The research was conducted on behalf of the company by Onepoll and collected from seven million deliveries using the Royal Mail tracked service between November and December last year.

Lincoln took second place in the online shopping popularity survey behind Chelmsford.

Royal Mail's managing director of fulfilment said: "Online shopping is now such a key part of the Christmas shopping experience. Our research shows that more people will be going online for their festive gifts this year than ever before."

Those planning to send first class mail in time for Christmas and want to guarantee it arrives on time may want to note the final date is December 20th.