The Royal Mail broke with tradition on Tuesday with the issuing of its first ever Christmas collection of stamps to feature religious and secular images at the same time.

The Royal Mail has issued special edition Christmas stamps for more than 40 years featuring until this year only religious images.

The 2008 collections sees the religious 1st class stamp depicting the 'Madonna of Humility' by Lippo di Dalmasio, with 'Madonna and Child' by William Dyce on the 2nd class stamp.

On the secular stamps are images of classic pantomime characters, including Cinderella, Peter Pan, Aladdin and Snow White.

Julietta Edgar, Head of Special Stamps, Royal Mail said: "Every year customers look forward to our Christmas stamps, which have been brightening up the festive season for more than 40 years.

"This year we are delighted to offer our customers a choice of Christmas stamps and the images will be seen on millions of letters and cards throughout the UK as well as on gifts sent across the globe."

The Royal Mail said it was expecting two billion items to be sent over the Christmas season, including 750 million Christmas cards.

It predicted Monday 15 December to be its busiest day, with 123 million items to be delivered compared to the average daily figure of around 80 million.