Counties could be dropped from postal addresses on letters and parcels, it has been reported. Under the proposed move, county names could disappear from the Postcode Address File, a database containing 28 million addresses used by firms for mailing lists. The postal service does not strictly need county names to deliver mail, instead using house names and numbers, street names and postcodes to identify locations. Ian Beesley, chairman of the board that advises the Royal Mail on running the database, told The Daily Telegraph county names had become "a kind of vanity attachment". He added: "People will still use counties, but for postal purposes you don't need it." A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Following Postcomm's request, Royal Mail has consulted with PAF (Postcode Address File) users including government departments, solutions providers and postal operators. "Users have raised concerns at the disruption to their services that the immediate deletion of this data would bring. "They have requested that Royal Mail continue to provide this information as a separate file until the review of the licence in 2013, and that after this point there should be a transitional period if this data is to be removed." | 
