WE HAVE just received a Christmas card five weeks after it was posted by a (very) elderly lady who lives in the south of England.

You might think that this is an example of Royal Mail inefficiency but this is far from the case when the following factors are considered.

The handwriting is barely readable and the address contains the following errors: The town is written as Blackheath' (as in south east London) instead of Blackburn.

The house number is wrong by a large amount.

Three of the six letters and numbers in the postcode are wrong.

No initial with the surname.

Someone in the Royal Mail has the skills of Sherlock Holmes and has gone to a great deal of trouble to ensure that the card came to the right address.

Well done and thanks!

MIKE NEILD, Revidge Road, Blackburn.