This year’s Christmas edition of the iconic Elm Park stamps will be the last made.

The Elm Park Regeneration Partnership has announced it will be stopping the production of the collectors’ items because rising production costs mean they are no longer commercially viable.

The first limited edition stamps were made in 2006 to mark Elm Park’s summer fiesta event. Since then designs have been on sale to coincide with Elm Park’s bi-annual events, which includes the Christmas lights’ switch-on.

The proceeds went to the partnership and its future projects and events.

Treasurer of the group Tina Death said: “This is not a decision we took lightly. Our primary aim is to instil a measure of pride in Elm Park through the sale of our bespoke merchandise and to the best of our knowledge we are the only town in the UK that has its very own first class Royal Mail stamps.

“The stamp has been an unprecedented success for the town centre. Our first series caused a sensation on eBay as full sheets were being sold for �600 each. We expect interest to be high in light of this announcement.”

Elm Park Stamps go on sale on Saturday, November 24, at Elm Park Florists, in Station Parade, Elm Park. Full sheets are �100, half sheets are �15 and single stamps are �1.