Thousands of Crystal Palace residents were astounded when opening their letter boxes
to discover letters that had been delivered over 16 years late.
With post marks dating back to 1994, the letters had not reached residents mail boxes as reports emerged that a former postman had hoarded them.
But even though some of the addressees have since moved home in the past 16 years, those now living at the address are trying to reunite the recipients with their mail.
The letters were only discovered during a police investigation unrelated to the Royal Mail at an ex postmans Dulwich address.
Rumours that the postman had deliberately withheld mail from particular mail boxes were quashed when the number of different affected addresses came to light.
A spokeswoman for Royal Mail speaking to News Shopper has admitted that almost 2,000 letters were affected and that these are now being delivered to householders along with a letter of apology from the company for the 16 year delay.
The Royal Mail had a zero tolerance approach to any dishonest behaviour such as withholding mail, the spokeswoman added.
She has also insisted that the majority of Royal Mail postmen and women carry out their duties with honesty and integrity.
She added: We constantly review our operation to ensure it is as robust as possible and that customers mail is secure.
We will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust.
Earlier this year, Royal Mail staff went on strike due to disagreements to do with pay and issues affecting the modernisation of the company as staff feared huge job losses and cuts.
The strikes brought mail deliveries to a standstill for several weeks with many companies losing out on business as a result.