Britain's philatelists threatened to bite the hand that fed them when they warned the Post Office that they would close their albums for ever from December 31 1999 if it continued to issue an excess of sub-standard stamps.

The threat came as the Post Office prepared to release 48 new millennium stamps 2000, a collection that leading stamp collectors claim puts quantity before quality.

Peter Jennings, a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society, said that the glut of stamps had caused many collectors to question the worth of continuing the hobby, and that some had decided the end of the 20th century was an opportune time to lay down their eyeglasses.

Between 1840 and 1900 the Royal Mail issued 214 different stamps but now produce more than that number every three years.

'They are issuing too many new stamps and a lot of collectors have used December 31 1999 to stop their collections and say they won't be buying any of the stamps issued in the year 2000 and beyond,' said Mr Jennings.'To safeguard the hobby of philately the Royal Mail needs to listen carefully to the views of stamp collectors and issue fewer new stamps,' he said.

Mr Jennings's comments come three days before the Post Office issues its first stamp of the 21st century, a first class stamp bearing a white portrait of the Queen on an olive background, a design which some have hailed as refreshingly retro in feel. 'It is a good, distinctive colour and a bold design,' said Mr Jennings. 'My personal opinion is that I hope it will persuade new collectors to start this hobby with the first stamp of the year 2000,' he said.

The batch that has raised the collectors' ire includes scenes intended to commemorate the flurry of activity that has greeted the new millennium. Stamps released in December 1999 bear images of Muncaster Castle in Cumbria which has just entered its third millennium, the Scottish Seabird Centre in Berwick, and the Torrs walkway in Derbyshire. Stamps featuring the tower blocks of Croydon, south London, and Mile End Park in east London were issued during 2000.

A Post Office spokesman said: 'We have been using some of the leading designers in the country and the stamps have been widely praised in this country and around the world'.

In November 1999 the Post Office issued designs by artists including Bridget Riley, Ralph Steadman, David Hockney and Peter Blake.

'Tony Blair named Royal Mail stamps as one of the designs of the millennium and they are on display in the dome, so they have won a lot of plaudits,' said Mr Simpson. 'This is an individual's point of view and not in any way representative of a wider body of opinion. The stamps we have been issuing have been very successful and there's no doubt they will continue to be successful.' 

By Paul Kelso, The Guardian, U.K.