The traditional sight of posties doing their rounds on bicycles could soon be a thing of the past in East Devon

Bicycle deliveries in Exmouth and Budleigh are expected to be reduced, or even scrapped altogether, thanks to new Royal Mail guidelines.

Instead, postal workers will carry out their deliveries using vans and electric trolleys.

The move comes as part of a �2 billion national scheme by Royal Mail to modernize the service and improve health and safety for workers.

However the changes are not expected to take place until later this year.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Across the UK we’re rolling out a program of changes at delivery offices and introducing new equipment which will see the number of cycles that we use reduced and in many cases removed.

“It’s a possibility that bikes will go in East Devon but until we have made the changes there we won’t know if that’s the case or not.”

Devon County Council cabinet member for highways and transportation Stuart Hughes has expressed his dismay that the council’s concerns about reducing bicycle deliveries in Devon were set to being overlooked.

He said: “It’s a crying shame that we won’t see our local posties on their bikes any more.

“I appreciate Royal Mail is investing in transforming its collection and delivery, but as carbon reduction is part of that investment, use of bicycles would seem to fit in perfectly with its future operations to reduce emissions.”