Mr Tikka insisted that the service complied with laws protecting the sanctity of the mail and promised that Itella would not keep copies of letters. “Our workers do not read the mail. How could love letters be filtered out?,” he said.

“We want to find out what kind of content clients want to start receiving electronically. Are personal letters among those that are not wanted in a digital form? We will find out.” So far, 126 households and 20 businesses in Anttila, an area of scattered settlement in the southern Finnish town of Porvoo, have volunteered to join the trial, which starts on April 12 and runs until the end of the year.