A travel agent thought Christmas had come early - but it was six months late.

Andrew Freeman is putting up the Christmas cards at home in Blewbury

Andrew Freeman, 34, was amazed when four Christmas cards, posted last December, landed on his doormat in South Street, Blewbury, near Didcot. One of the cards was posted just five miles away in Wallingford.

"It took six months to travel five miles," said Mr Freeman, who works for Full Circle Travel in Wallingford.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted. At first I thought they were birthday cards but I looked at the Snowman stamp and thought 'why am I getting Christmas cards in June?'"

The cards were posted first-class in mid-December from Wallingford, London, Lancashire and Stuttgart.

But he has not let their late arrival dampen the message of goodwill.

"I have got them up at home -- it's Christmas in the middle of summer," said Mr Freeman.

On a more serious note Mr Freeman said it could have happened to more important items of post, such as credit cards. He said the service from Royal Mail was unacceptable.

"I thought it was funny but really it's just a pretty dreadful service," he added.

A Royal Mail spokesman said it was unlikely the cards had sat in a sorting office for six months. He said: "What can happen, particularly at Christmas when mail volumes are a great deal higher, is sometimes cards can get caught in larger items and go somewhere else. It's then picked up by someone who puts it back into a post box."

Under licensing rules, set by regulator Postcomm, Royal Mail does not have to publish performance figures for the Christmas period.

But first quarter figures for OX post codes show 90.7 per cent of first class letters arrived the next day.