Paralympians 'pleased' with stamps

Gold medal-winning Paralympians will not be featured on individual stamps as their Olympic counterparts have been, the British Paralympic Association has said.

Instead, a series of six first-class stamps featuring every medallist will be produced after the Games finish on September 9.

A post box in each gold medallist's home town will also be painted gold, as has been the case with members of Team GB. Royal Mail has also provided a £200,000 prize fund to be divided up equally between the gold medallists of Paralympics GB.

In a statement on their website, the BPA said: "Royal Mail's special stamps and gold post boxes to celebrate Team GB's gold medals have prompted questions on whether there are also plans to celebrate ParalympicsGB's gold medals.

"The BPA have been working closely with the Royal Mail and are very pleased with the final plans."

The BPA said it wanted to make sure British Paralympians were "recognised for their fantastic achievements" and noted that the stamp honour was a first in the history of the Paralympics.

The association said the plans were not the same as for Team GB because it was expecting a "similarly world-class level of performance" as in Beijing four years ago, when ParalympicsGB won 42 gold medals. The BPA added: "As a result, it is logistically and practically impossible for Royal Mail to produce an individual stamp for every one of the gold medallists for ParalympicsGB."

The Royal Mail had attracted criticism for the move, with some taking to Twitter to voice their displeasure. Michael Moran wrote: "Royal Mail won't be extending the privilege of an individual stamp to Paralympic gold medallists. Poor show."

Royal Mail said it was issuing a set of stamps on August 29 to mark the start of the Paralympic Games and featured Paralympic sports on stamps issued in the run-up to London 2012.