Pensioner receives letter 13 years after it was sent

A PENSIONER was left stunned when he received a letter 13 years after it was posted.

The letter had been sent second-class by a Derby electrical rental store, telling Albert Sadler he owed £13.01 for a television and video player he rented on a monthly basis.

Radio Rentals, which used to be in East Street, posted the letter on August 17, 1995, but Albert only received it on Saturday.

The 87-year-old said: "I laughed when it came through. I was surprised because it's taken a very long while."

Radio Rentals has been closed in Derby since 2000.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail was unable to confirm where the letter had been during the past 13 years.

It eventually arrived, wrapped in cellophane, with an apology from Royal Mail written on the back.

"It just gave a number to call if I was not satisfied," said Albert, of Birdcage Walk, Mackworth.

"The letter was mouldy and smelt quite a bit – that's why they put it in a plastic cover."

Albert, a retired chemical processor, said he was able to see the funny side of the blunder but insisted the matter could have been more serious.

He said: "I've had a laugh about it and it doesn't matter too much. But it easily could have been something important."

His wife Denise, 48, said it was amazing the letter had been lost for so long.

"I was quite shocked really. We don't know if the letter was found or who has re-sent it," she said.

Albert called the Evening Telegraph after reading in Monday's edition about another Royal Mail blunder in which Brian Blount sent a card from Belper to a bereaved friend in Nether Heage, which failed to be delivered within six weeks.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail apologised for the inconvenience to Albert but could not explain the delay.