First class map pushes envelope

The envelope was addressed to Peter O'Leary "somewhere here"

A steelworker from Neath has told of his surprise that a letter he addressed with only a name and a rough sketch actually reached its destination.

Paul Bates drew a map on an envelope with a dot labelled "somewhere here" in north Cornwall, below the name of former colleague Peter O'Leary.

But postal workers in Bude managed to pinpoint the right address and deliver the letter.

Mr Bates said he read in a newspaper that the Christmas card had arrived.

He told BBC Wales he had worked with Mr O'Leary for many years at the Corus steel works in Port Talbot, but had lost touch when his friend moved to Cornwall without leaving a new address.

But Mr Bates said he did have a rough idea of where his ex-colleague was living.

I haven't got his address and he hasn't got my address either - we still haven't sorted that out Peter Bates

Mr Bates said: "If you're living in Port Talbot you can see across to the north Devon coast and a bit of Cornwall.

"He [Mr O'Leary] said: 'I'm just living over by there', so it was the only thing I had to go on.

"I drew a map of the coastline of north Cornwall and Devon and put on it 'Peter O'Leary, living somewhere here.'"

Mr Bates said he thought his placement of the dot was accurate to "within a millimetre".

The pair managed to meet up over the new year for a drink.

"I'm a bit of a celebrity here in Corus - everybody's talking about it," he added.

"I haven't got his address and he hasn't got my address either - we still haven't sorted that out."