WD postcode area
Coordinates: 51°39′18″N 0°23′53″W / 51.655°N 0.398°W
| Watford postcode area | |
 WD
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| Postcode area | WD |
|---|---|
| Postcode area name | Watford |
| Post towns | 7 |
| Postcode districts | 13 |
| Postcode sectors | 69 |
| Postcodes (live) | 7,704 |
| Postcodes (total) | 14,552 |
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| Statistics as at October 2006 [1] | |
The WD postcode area, also known as the Watford postcode area[2], is a group of 13 postcode districts around the town of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. The main sorting office is in Watford (Ascot Road WD18) and it is divided into seven post towns.
In October 2010 the Watford Observer published a story stating the Watford Mail Centre and Kings Langley Delivery Office would be closing with operations moving to a new centre in Hemel Hempstead with the loss of 300 jobs. The mail is now processed at the Home Counties North Mail Centre.
The WD3 district also covers the north western extremity of London - a small and mostly unpopulated protrusion of Harefield in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It also extends into the Chiltern district of Buckinghamshire to include the village of Chenies.
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[edit] Coverage
The approximate coverage of the postcode districts:
| Postcode district | Post town | Coverage | Local authority area |
|---|---|---|---|
| WD3 | RICKMANSWORTH | Batchworth Heath, Chandlers Cross, Chenies, Chorleywood, Croxley Green, Heronsgate, Loudwater, Maple Cross, Mill End, Rickmansworth, Sarratt, West Hyde | Three Rivers, Hillingdon, Chiltern |
| WD4 | KINGS LANGLEY | Bucks Hill, Chipperfield, Hunton Bridge, Kings Langley | Dacorum, Three Rivers |
| WD5 | ABBOTS LANGLEY | Bedmond, Abbots Langley | Three Rivers |
| WD6 | BOREHAMWOOD | Borehamwood, Elstree, Well End | Hertsmere |
| WD7 | RADLETT | Shenley, Radlett | Hertsmere |
| WD17 | WATFORD | Watford, Cassiobury, Nascot Wood | Watford |
| WD18 | WATFORD | West Watford | Watford, Three Rivers |
| WD19 | WATFORD | Oxhey, South Oxhey, Carpenders Park | Watford, Three Rivers |
| WD23 | BUSHEY | Bushey, Bushey Heath | Hertsmere, Watford |
| WD24 | WATFORD | North Watford | Watford |
| WD25 | WATFORD | Garston, Aldenham, Leavesden, Letchmore Heath | Watford, Hertsmere, Three Rivers |
[edit] Recoding
In September 2000 districts WD17-18 and WD23-25 were created from the recoding of the WD1 and WD2 districts. BUSHEY is a new post town; having previously been part of the WD2 district of WATFORD. This was due to postcode exhaustion of WD1 and WD2 [3] Another reason for the postcode revision was the old WD2 area included Bushey with North Watford. Bushey was to all intents a section of Watford sorting office up until 2000, all mail for WD2 was cut and tipped at Watford office. To change this new codes were created to enable direct bags to be opened at Bushey delivery office. Local union reps claim (archaic) that the reason Bushey Delivery Office was included with Watford was so Watford postal workers would attract outer London weighting as Bushey was in the London Metropoilitan Police area at the time.
[edit] Adjacent areas
| Adjacent postcode areas | ||
|---|---|---|
| LU | ||
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| HP |  WD  |
EN |
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| SL | UB | HA |
Clockwise from the east, the adjacent postcode areas are: EN (Enfield), HA (Harrow), UB (Southall), SL (Slough), HP (Hemel Hempstead), LU (Luton). Bushey was created as a post town so that the Bushey Delivery Office could directly receive bags of mail. Up until this point, all mailbags for the old WD2 postcode area, which included Bushey and North Watford, were cut and tipped at Watford Mail Centre. At one point during the 1970s, the night sorting was done at Watford and then delivered by van during the small hours. One reason for this long-winded procedure was to ensure that Watford postal workers received London weighting payments, as Bushey was in the London Metropolitan Police area at the time.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "National Statistics Postcode Directory" (PDF). Office for National Statistics Postcode Directory (November 2006). Office for National Statistics. November 2006. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/downloads/NSPDVersionNotes.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
- ^ Royal Mail, Address Management Guide, (2004)
- ^ Royal Mail - Postcode Update 31 (September 2000)
Watford Royal Mail centre 'to close' under modernisation plans - http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/8430168.Mail_centre__to_close_/
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