A Colchester postman has been suspended after more than 120 items went missing.

A Royal Mail investigation has been launched after it emerged items addressed to residents in one area of Colchester had not been delivered.

About 100 households will receive apology letters from Royal Mail after 120 letters were "wilfully delayed" by a postman.

These items - which were due for delivery last month - have now been recovered and are being sent to the correct address.

In his letter, John Hayes, customer service manager for the Royal Mail, said: "It appears one of our employees has failed to maintain the standards that Royal Mail expects.

"Royal Mail takes the security of mail very seriously and in the light of this case we have already reviewed our security procedures to help ensure an incident like this does not happen again."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Mail said the problems were caused by "wilful delay".

She said: "There's about 120 items of mail - none of which have been tampered with - which we are now forwarding on to affected customers.

"The postman concerned has been suspended. He has been working for us for about a month."

The mail has been delayed by about three weeks. The spokeswoman said it was uncertain how long the investigation would take.

Anyone concerned about their mail should contact customer services on 08457 740740.

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