A batch of letters arrives in Devon from South Africa - just 16 years late

A bundle of letters sent from South Africa to an address in the UK finally reached their destination last week - 16 years after they were first posted. Andrew Murrin, a 59-year-old driving instructor, has received two A5 envelopes stuffed with letters at his home in Plymouth. They had been re-directed from his former home in South Africa in the early 1990s.

The envelopes included statements from the Midland Bank, now HSBC, and letters from a South African telecoms company. "As far as I was concerned, I had cleared up all my business in South Africa, so I was amazed when they arrived," he said.



Murrin thinks the post was sent from South Africa before 1996 because of the postage stamps on the envelope. "The airmail stamps on the envelopes have the old South African flag on them and I believe that disappeared in 1996," he said. "They've probably been in a box somewhere and someone found them recently and sent them on."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "It's difficult to say what caused the delay, as we don't track individual items of unregistered mail. We can only apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused."