The Royal Mail has announced that it will cut more than 1,700 jobs and close two mail centres, one of them in East London.

The job losses include 1,000 managers across the UK and 751 employees in London after the “phased closures” of the centres in south and east London, they said in a statement.

The company said the cuts were necessary as it expected the volume of mail posted in London to half from what is was in 2006 to 2014.

The Royal Mail’s east London centre in Bromley-by-Bow and the south London centre in Nine Elms Lane and its will close, saving an expected �30m, the company said.

They said it hoped it would not be forced into making compulsory

Mark Higson, the company’s managing director of operations and modernisation, said: “Royal Mail’s modernisation programme, vital to ensuring a successful future for the letters and parcels business, depends on having the right number of people in our business, as well as deploying the right technology and equipment.”

The firm also said that about half of its 64 UK mail centres that were open in 2010 could close by 2016.

Next month, the cost of a first-class stamp will go up by a record 5p to 46p, while that of a second-class stamp will rise by 4p to 36p.