Five new Christmas stamps unveiled

Five Christmas stamps featuring traditional scenes and characters including Santa, a reindeer and a robin have been unveiled by the Royal Mail.

Children's illustrator Axel Scheffler has designed the stamps, which go on sale from November 6, while children's author Tony Mitton helped the design team.

Royal Mail spokesman Andrew Hammond said: "Christmas is always a stamp issue we look forward to. This year we were delighted with the work produced by Axel. His charming style set the perfect tone for the stamps."

The stamps include Father Christmas with a festive robin perching on his hand (1st class), a reindeer with decorated antlers (2nd class), a robin sitting on a sprig of holly, and a snowman meeting a penguin (£1.90).