A CHRISTMAS card destined for New Zealand has been mistakenly posted to the same village home near Christchurch four times in one week.

The card, which was posted in Plymouth, was addressed to a Mr and Mrs Hill, at a house in Brookside Close, Christchurch, New Zealand.

But it has ended up through the letterbox of John Levesley, who lives in Brookside Close, Bransgore, near Christchurch, despite continued attempts to clarify to sorting office staff the correct location.

Mr Levesley said: “Although I and Mr and Mrs Hills share the same house number and road name, and both live in the proximity of Christchurch, there the similarity ends, for they live in New Zealand.

“So my wife popped it back into the post box.

“It came back the next day so I wrote on the envelope in big helpful red letters “New Zealand” and we popped it back into the post.

“Next morning it was back again so I added a big red “not Dorset, not UK” to the envelope and my wife added two air mail stickers.

“Lo and behold, after the weekend it came back again on Monday morning.”

Mr Levesley added: “It’s remarkable. We’ve had a laugh about it because it’s so ridiculous. My wife has been in stitches.

“They must have worked really hard not to read the address or the red writing on it. They’re obviously just not picking it up.

“I just feel sorry for the person who sent the card. Whoever they sent it to isn’t going to get it in time for Christmas now.”

Mr Levesley said he would take the card to the sorting office in Christchurch himself in a bid to avoid a repeat of the situation.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We apologise for the mis-delivery and the inconvenience this has caused. This was down to human error.

“We have put measures in place to ensure this does not happen again.

“Any customer who has any concerns about their mail service should contact Royal Mail customer services on 08457 740740.”