Some 180 new jobs are to be created in Dublin over the next 18 months by independent postal services company Citypost.

The jobs will be based primarily at Citypost’s headquarters in Ballymount but also at its 32 regional handling centres nationwide.

The new jobs, which are the result of a number of new contract wins in the last six months, will primarily be in the area of mail sorting, delivery and collection, operations and administration.

The company currently employs 188 staff, having grown from a 20-strong work force 10 years ago.

Citypost which offers an alternative to An Post, currently delivers to 950,000 homes every week. Clients include Woodies, Stena Line, Golden Pages, Superquinn and Fingal County Council, while the company also holds the contract to deliver the Irish national telephone directory across the country since 2002.

Citypost also has a large presence in Portugal and has a large facility in Queluz on the outskirts of Lisbon, with a staff of 120 people.

The company is to introduce a new electric postal bike service in Ireland in the coming weeks, which aims to provide company's with a 20 per cent saving on their annual postal bill.

Managing director Ian Glass said the company was delighted to be in a position to expand the company further in Ireland.  "We have had a hugely successful year and are braced for even more growth," he said.