STAFF at an Ipswich shoe shop got a postcard from an old work colleague, thinking he was keeping them up-to-date with his new life in Nottingham.But they could not believe their eyes when they discovered it was a postcard from Spain, which was sent four years ago.

STAFF at an Ipswich shoe shop got a postcard from an old work colleague, thinking he was keeping them up-to-date with his new life in Nottingham.

But they could not believe their eyes when they discovered it was a postcard from Spain, which was sent four years ago.

Former shop worker Tony Coleman left the Jonathan James in Ipswich's Buttermarket shopping centre two years ago and moved to Nottingham.

His old workmates thought he had posted a message to let them know how he was doing when they received the postcard last Friday.

But it had been sent on June 21, 2000 when Mr Coleman was on a holiday in Calpe on Spain's Costa Blanca.

Shop manager Denise Downing said: "We know about the delays and queues at airports, but never imagined it would take four years to get home.

"It arrived on Friday morning and it was quite strange as one of the girl's said 'Oh, we have a postcard from Tony' and we thought how nice of him to think of us as we hadn't heard from him for about two years.

"We all started laughing and found it quite weird. We couldn't believe it took four years to get here. The address is correct.

"When sending mail to family and friends telling them of our holidays we would expect or would like them ideally to receive them before we actually get home."

The shop manager said she wished she could inform Mr Coleman of the stray postcard because it would amuse him but unfortunately had no contact details for him in Nottingham.

"I would love to be able to tell him but I don't know where he is. But we've put it up in the shop," she added.

The postcard is addressed to "All at JJ's" and talks about how Mr Coleman's flight was delayed by nearly six hours.