Card arrives three decades late

The intended recipient for the card has been tracked down

A Christmas card posted in 1973 has finally turned up at its destination, more than 30 years after it was sent.

The card, which was posted in Kilmarnock using an old 3p stamp, left staff puzzled when it turned up at a community centre in Dundee.

Its intended recipient Robert Stevenson, a former worker at the centre, has been tracked down to his current home in the Borders.

It is hoped that he will receive the card in time for this Christmas.

Pam Hume, who works at the community centre, said: "We had a bit of a laugh about it, about the Royal Mail taking 33 years to deliver a letter."

Royal Mail said that it was impossible to determine what had happened to the piece of mail.

A spokeswoman said: "It's unlikely that it has been in our system for that length of time.

"From time to time a member of the public finds a piece of mail which doesn't belong to them and re-posts it."