A former post office in Bethlehem, west Wales, which each Christmas franks thousands of letters with its biblical name is busier than it has been for a decade.

People from across the world send cards and letters to Bethlehem in Carmarthenshire to be stamped at the post house.

Anyone who owns the building retains the right to frank mail with the village's name.

With the new millennium approaching, post house owner Gwilym Richards said he had more mail than ever to frank this year.

He revealed this year will be his last doing the job he loves. He and his wife Hazel, who have run the business for 15 years, are retiring.

Each year, Mr Richards not only receives sackloads of letters to frank, but also about 5,000 visitors wanting to post mail in the village for themselves.

He said: "I would say I have more mail this year than any year in the past 10 years. I've got boxes piled up."

President of China

To celebrate this special year, Mr Richards is franking mail with a stamp which shows the last day of this millennium and the first day of the next.

The house - and the right to frank mail - have just gone on the market for �125,000.

The most unusual piece of mail Mr Richards has ever franked was handed to him a few years ago by a US diplomat based in Britain.

"He wrote a Christmas card in Latin and I had to send it to the president of China in Beijing," said Mr Richards.

The same man sent Christmas greetings to the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

This year also sees the end of the village's primary school.

The six pupils are being transferred to a larger school nearby in the New Year.