Embargoed to 0001 Saturday December 27

Bridges, comedians, inventions, bees and rugby will all feature on special stamps being issued by the Royal Mail in 2015.

The second issue of a series of stamps commemorating the First World War will also go on sale, in May, including an image of the actual ball used by Rifleman Frank Edwards, who led his fellow troops into battle by kicking a football on the battlefield.

The special stamp programme will start with British inventions such as the world wide web, followed by a set of 10 stamps celebrating the engineering of bridges.

Comedy greats will be the subject of stamps in April, including an image of the Two Ronnies.

The bicentenary of The Battle of Waterloo and the 75th anniversary of the The Battle of Britain will feature on stamps released in the summer, while rugby-themed stamps will be launched in September to mark this country's hosting of the Rugby World Cup.

The Royal Mail said 2015 would be a notable year for stamp issues, with other sets including bees and a religious-themed Christmas.

Royal Mail receives hundreds of requests every year for its special stamps, as well as researching major anniversaries and events.

The Queen approves all stamp designs before they are printed.

ends