Royal Mail has been awarded a multi million-pound contract to deliver Covid home testing kits seven days a week as ministers prepare to ramp up capacity in the coming weeks.

Completed tests will be collected from 35,000 postboxes six days a week and from 15,000 locations on Sundays.

The award, part of Boris Johnson’s “Operation Moonshot”, marks a key victory for Royal Mail in its battle with Amazon to spearhead mass testing.

Royal Mail chairman Keith Williams has previously said mass testing “is an opportunity for Royal Mail to show what we can do”.

Both companies have been involved with delivery and collection of testing kits from care homes and regional test centres since April.

But the Silicon Valley giant appeared to have stolen a march on the postal monopoly, which was plunged into crisis earlier this year with the abrupt exit of boss Rico Back amid a sharp decline in letter volumes.

Amazon has waived any fees and charges for its Covid services. It currently plays a much bigger role in testing than its 500-year-old logistics rival.

Tuesday’s award from the Department for Health is understood to be considerably smaller than a £550m contract to deliver to up 215,000 homes a day that was put out for tender earlier this month.

The selection of Royal Mail sends a signal to Amazon that its grip could be slipping.

It follows a comparatively upbeat announcement last week, when the former FTSE 100 company beat City expectations with its financial results.

Revenue from parcels overtook letters for the first time as Royal Mail capitalised on a surge in home deliveries during the pandemic.

Nick Landon, Royal Mail chief commercial officer, said: “Since April, we have played a crucial role in delivering and collecting millions of test kits from care homes, test centres and our network of priority postboxes before returning them to labs to help the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“Now, the Government has asked us to play an equally important role in home deliveries for customers who request a test kit through the NHS. We could not be prouder to support the Government’s fight against the pandemic. All of our posties know that when the country asks, we deliver.”

Read more: Posties to collect parcels on daily rounds in ‘biggest shake up’ since postbox in 1852