The Berkshire family receives a birthday card nine years late

A father has said his 10-year-old son was “stunned” when he received a birthday card almost nine years late.

Richard, from Reading, Berkshire, said he recognized his sister’s handwriting on the envelope but had to pay £2.50 because the stamp was no longer valid.

The letter was addressed to his son Alfie, who the 57-year-old said was left with his ‘jaw wide open’.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said it had “resolved the situation”.

The card read: “To Alfie, lots of love on your first birthday. From Aunt Sally and Uncle Pat.”

Richard said: “I was quite surprised because Alfie’s birthday had arrived six months earlier in October.

“I read the card again and it was for his first birthday, almost nine years late.

“When we realized it had been sent almost nine years ago, I told my sister, who lives in Yorkshire, and she said, ‘I bet you thought I had no problem with it’.”

The family were reimbursed £10.80 by Royal Mail and sent a booklet containing eight first class stamps.

It also sent Alfie a check for £10 as a goodwill gesture.

The agency said it “could not speculate” on why the letter went undelivered for nearly a decade.

Richard said: “I find it very funny to think that it could have been on the floor of a collection office, or that someone had moved furniture all those years later to find it, and it has only just found its way back into the system has found.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We successfully deliver billions of letters every year. Unfortunately, on this occasion the customer did not receive this high level of service.”