A south Essex businessman was stunned to receive a postcard sent in 1963 but was even more perplexed to discover it was addressed to a stranger living in another county.

The card turned up at Castle Point Gas and Heating in Benfleet.

Dave Wells, director of the company based in Towerfields Business Park, Benfleet, said: "It's amazing. It must have been stuck in some sort of postal box."

The postcard, which has the Cheddar Gorge on the front, is addressed to a Mary Bennett, Jillifer Road, Luton. It has a stamp to the value of 2 1/2d.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "It's unlikely it would have been in the mail for all that time. Perhaps it had been filed in a cabinet and recently been posted."

Published Friday September 10, 2004

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