Has the humble postcard - for so long an essential part of the great British holiday - had its day? JESSICA ROGERS went on to the streets of York to find out.

POSTCARD sales in York have plummeted in recent years, according to a Shambles trader.

It follows research that suggested the British postcard, which relies on "snail mail", was in danger of being killed off by modern technology.

It found the speed of text messaging, email and picture messaging was making postcards redundant.

Royal Mail has recorded a drop in the number of postcards posted of one million per year, for the last five years.

A recent poll, carried out by Thomson Holidays, indicated that 30 per cent of those questioned never sent postcards, while 53 per cent said they would send fewer in the future due to the convenience of modern communications.

Tony Di Souza, owner of The Shambles Souvenir And Gift Store, said "When I first took over this shop four years ago, I ordered 20,000 postcards per year, now I only order 6,000.

"My major problem is that I don't sell stamps, as there is no profit incentive, and many people don't want to buy a postcard without a stamp.

"I believe that Royal Mail should

provide vendors with an incentive to sell stamps."

Tony Hickmans, owner of Laurelei, in

Shambles, said: "There has been an all round decline in sales."

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said: "I think that the younger generation may now favour text messages instead of postcards."

But she added that she did not believe

postage was a problem in York.

She said: "Many of our visitors are domestic tourists and can expect their postcards will arrive the next day."

City of York Council's executive member for leisure and tourism, Councillor Keith Orrell, said, "I have certainly seen a decline in the number of postcards I receive."

But, for some tourists, the postcard is still their favourite.

The Lindon family, from Gloucester, said: "We have just bought two postcards to send to our son who is serving in Iraq.

"It is an ideal way to communicate with him since he rarely has time to email."

Updated: 15:12 Friday, July 25, 2003