Postcard from Lanzarote arrives in Devon – seven years late

Four postcards sent from Lanzarote have been delivered to their intended destination in Devon – seven years late.

Jan and Terry Chudley, from Whipton in Exeter, sent the postcards while on holiday in December 2014.

They were surprised to receive calls from their relatives in December 2021 to ask if they were on holiday.

Jan said: “It’s just comical that they started to arrive virtually to the day of when we arrived back from there seven years ago.

“Our daughters thought that it was hilarious.”

The couple said one of the postcards arrived on time to an address in Germany. In the seven years since, some of their family have moved so can not tell if the other postcards have also reached their destination.

Terry said: “Because they [the postcards] aren’t postmarked as such, people thought we’d been away about three or four weeks ago.

“We’ve heard of snail-mail but this was just unbelievable… and now it’s arrived.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Every single item of mail is important to us and it is likely that these postcards have been put back into the postal system recently, rather than being lost or stuck in the post.

“Royal Mail regularly checks all its delivery offices and clears its sorting machines daily. Once an item is in the postal system it will be delivered to the address on the postcard, parcel or envelope.”