Postbox 'not emptied for five years'

A postbox in Rzedziny, northeast Poland was not emptied by the local postman for five years.

Resident Stanislaw Shchusev, 80, investigated the matter after his correspondence was not delivered to its intended destination, the Croatian Times reports.

Shchusev said: "I was sending letters to my family abroad for nearly half a century - Christmas wishes and that sort of thing.

"But in the last few years I was surprised when they told me they hadn't received anything from me. I just assumed the letters had got lost in transit abroad somewhere. I never once realised that they were all still here in my village postbox."

Regional post office worker Bozena Ziolecka added: "We checked out complaints from villagers near Szczeczin and, well, it turned out that there are a lot of unsent letters and cards."

Postman Wieslaw Zawoz explained: "It's not my fault. First, I was on holiday. Another time a trainee lost the key to the postbox and I reported it but no-one did anything. Another time I was sick."

The 39-year-old was also found to have dumped hundreds of letters destined for local residents in a storeroom.