Alistair Bishop

As temperatures hit their highest for the year so far, Christmas was the last thing on Alistair Bishop’s mind.

But after his postman dropped four weathered-looking envelopes through his letterbox in the run-up to this week’s heatwave, he discovered seasonal greetings were waiting within.

Two of the cards with date stamps from December 11 and 12 arrived on June 22.

Alistair Bishop from Northwood, Middlesex, said two more cards which were also sent in December arrived on June 24, one of which was from the US. 

Royal Mail said it was “uncertain what happened” but conceded that sometimes items are “temporarily misplaced”.  

It claimed deliveries can be delayed because mail has been lost in the bottom of a postman’s bag.

The postal service said 99 per cent of first and second-class items posted by the last recommended dates were delivered in time for Christmas last year.

Mr Bishop said: “I received two cards on Saturday 22nd and two further cards on Monday 24th, two have been date stamped and they were sent 11th and 12th of December. One card had come from the US. No seagulls in sight.”

It comes after Royal Mail wrote to residents of a coastal town apologising for delivery delays blaming dive-bombing seagulls for the inconvenience.

Householders in Liskeard, Cornwall, received a letter from the Royal Mail warning them that the aggressive birds have been impacting postal deliveries in the area.

Mr Bishop, 72, added: “I know Christmas cards will be on sale soon, I just thought my friends were sending me their thoughts in case of my demise before Christmas 2024.”

He said his postman had since been to his house to inspect the envelopes and is reporting back to their manager. Royal Mail said it was investigating the matter.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We deliver billions of letters successfully every year. During the last festive period, 99 per cent of first and second-class items posted by the last recommended posting dates were delivered in time for Christmas.

“At times, while large numbers of letters move through our network, a very small fraction may be temporarily misplaced, such as hidden at the bottom of a mailbag. We will be looking into this isolated incident, and while it is uncertain what happened in this circumstance, we will always ensure any found letters continue their journey to the customer.”