HAVE you heard the one about the letter that arrived before it was sent? No? Cretingham couple Lynda and Peter Markland have. The couple were amazed when at 11am a letter arrived on their doormat and the Ipswich postmark said it had been sent out at 7.

HAVE you heard the one about the letter that arrived before it was sent?

No? Cretingham couple Lynda and Peter Markland have.

The couple were amazed when at 11am a letter arrived on their doormat and the Ipswich postmark said it had been sent out at 7.15pm - later that night.

Addressed to stunned schoolteacher Mrs Markland the letter, which had a second class stamp, had arrived more than eight hours before it had been sorted.

Mrs Markland, 54, said she had been waiting for a letter from church authorities as she sits on a deanery committee.

She said: "I know we live in a rural village and you might call it a time warp but you do not expect this.

"The letter arrived before it was sent. There is hope for the post office yet."

Lynda admitted she had a giggle when she saw the strange postmark.

She added: "It has amused us. It is a bit strange."

Mr Markland, an investment analyst, said the letter's postmark had taken him by surprise.

He said: "It was a letter we had been waiting for and we thought it might have come earlier.

"I was just looking at it when I spotted the postmark."

Despite being incorrectly addressed the letter still managed to find its way to the Markland's home.

Mr Markland, also 54, said: "It is only a second class stamp. The postcode only says IP13 so half of it is missing. I am amazed they have been able to do this.

"It is quite amusing but quite disturbing at the same time."

A spokesman for the post office said without seeing the letter it would be difficult to establish exactly what had happened during the sorting process.

He added: "We do endeavour to try to get mail delivered as quickly as possible. If we have achieved the impossible I am sure our hardworking staff deserve some of the credit."

Has this ever happened to you? What do you think of the postal service in Ipswich?

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