Householders can expect to receive more unaddressed junk mail from their postman if a deal about the modernisation of Royal Mail is approved.

A long-standing agreement between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers' Union currently limits the amount of leaflets postmen have to deliver to three items per household per week. This cap will be removed if members of the union vote in favour of a deal about Royal Mail's modernisation plans.

Royal Mail's management aims to make the company more efficient and profitable. In particular the company's Letters Division is struggling to compete with new players on the postal market, such as TNT Post and UK Mail. The company is still making healthy profits from delivering addressed and unaddressed junk mail.

The negotiations about modernisation - which are essentially about pay, working practices and job cuts - have been far from easy and triggered a number of postal strikes. The Communication Workers' Union never opposed the scrapping of the 'three items per week' rule, although the union did have concerns about the amount of mail postmen would need to carry.

The agreement does not specify how much unaddressed junk mail Royal Mail is expecting to deliver to the average household. The new policy will be reviewed via quarterly 'review meetings' with the union.

Householders can opt-out of receiving unaddressed mail delivered by the postman by registering with Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out.