Royal Mail has told Cwmbran Life that undelivered letters dated from up to 62 years ago that were posted through the letterboxes of dozens of bemused householders last week had been found in a “storage locker”.
A post on Henllys Life on 28 June shared the story of Cllr Ron Burnett, who received a letter dated 2014. This led to a flurry of comments from residents with similar experiences:
🚘”I had the log book for a vehicle I bought in May 2017, sent by DVLA early June 2017.”
⏰ “Family member received a letter yesterday for a previous house owner. The letter is dated and postmarked May 1962.”
💳 “Had some bankcards delivered today, from 2017, they are give years out of date.”
🔨 “We had a Screwfix magazine from 2017! I hope the deals are still on!”
‘Duty to deliver mail’
Cwmbran Life approached Royal Mail to ask how many letters were delivered and where they were found? Those points weren’t specifically answered, but they sent this comment.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “A number of historic mail items were recently recovered from a storage locker as part of an internal investigation. Royal Mail has a duty to deliver mail in its network regardless of age, and so these items have since been delivered. Even if dated, they may still hold relevance or value to the intended recipient.
“We understand that receiving post several years late may cause confusion or concern. If the intended recipient no longer lives at the address, we advise marking the envelope ‘Not known at this address’ and reposting it into any Royal Mail postbox.”