A NORTH-EAST writer who is working with postal staff on a new play has launched a new first class stamp.

Tyneside playwright and novelist Julia Darling yesterday launched the 27p Year of the Artist stamp, part of the Royal Mail's Millennium collection, at the Newcastle delivery office.

The stamp, which features the image of a human eye, is one of a set of four called Sound Vision, which celebrate projects highlighting the history, creativity and future of the arts.

Ms Darling is working on her new play, Post, with postal staff in the city, as part of a national scheme to create artistic residencies in workplaces.

Ms Darling said: "As a writer I have always been obsessed with letters. Letters have a kind of magic about them, a permanence and a significance and a sense of having travelled.

"For me, the postal system is more than just a way of communicating.

"The creative art of letter writing is fast disappearing in an age of e-mails, where everything is shortened, abbreviated and not necessarily saved or cherished, and I wonder if this is a metaphor of how we view older people's experience."

Paul Jobling, the Royal Mail's Tyneside area manager, said: "I am sure Julia has had a tremendous insight into how our business works, from talking to staff and seeing them at work over several months.

"We are delighted such an important project as Year of the Artist is featured in the Year 2000 Millennium collection of stamps.