YOU’VE heard the phrase snail mail – well, one postcard has lived up to that tag by taking almost a quarter of a century to get to its intended destination.

Linda Jakeway, of Teal Crescent, Kempshott, Basingstoke, received a postcard through her letterbox on Saturday, December 9 – almost a quarter of a century after it was sent.

The postcard, depicting a beachfront scene from Paignton, in Devon, was intended to reach the property’s former owners in June 1987.

Mrs Jakeway, a sales manager at Dalmec Ltd, in Basingstoke, is now hoping the intended recipients will come forward to finally collect the item.

She told The Gazette: “It was a bit of a shock when it arrived. We saw how faded and tatty it was so knew something must be wrong with it, but we really were surprised when we saw the date it was sent!”

The postcard was sent to Garry and Esme Ward, who sold the property to Mrs Jakeway and her husband Martin 20 years ago. It arrived in a Royal Mail clear plastic envelope, and the postmark reads June 29 1987.

Mrs Jakeway said: “We used to get a couple of bills and things like that coming through for them when we first bought the house, but to get something after more than 24 years is very surprising. If they still want it, we have kept it safe.”

Royal Mail spokeswoman Valerie Antoine ||said: “It is extremely unlikely that this item of mail was in our system all this time.

“Without actually seeing the item, it is difficult to speculate what may have happened, but almost certainly it was put back in a postbox very recently, as we regularly check all our sorting offices and machines are cleared.

“As this item may have just been reposted, it may have been damaged by our sorting machine, hence the plastic envelope.”

If Mr and Mrs Ward wish to reclaim the postcard, then can contact The Gazette on 01256 337444 or newsdesk@basingstokegazette.co.uk.