AT a time when our postal services are being eroded beyond recognition, a further reminder of what we have lost arrived through my door recently.

On December 6, my wife's cousin posted our Christmas card from Perth, Western Australia. It was a beautiful, home-made card showing photos of her two daughters in festive clothing.

On December 21, the envelope was marked "return to sender" and sent back to Australia.

Why? Because our post code was not on the envelope and our address was mis-spelt as "Clayton-Le-Moore, Acrington."

The card took until early February to get back to Perth -- perhaps the swimmer had to make several stops en route -- and it was re-posted by my wife's aunt to arrive here on February 14.

Not all that many years ago the Post Office took pride in getting letters to their destination no matter how badly they were addressed -- and just how many Accringtons are there in Great Britain?

BARRY PHILLIPS, The Coppice, Clayton-le-Moors.