A POSTCARD sent from Exeter to Ipswich has finally reached its destination — 83 years after it was posted.

Stunned Glynis Cook, 42, couldn't believe her eyes when she went through her mail and discovered the card.

In among the bills and the flyers was a postcard sent to her home in Cemetery Road, Ipswich, from Exeter, dated June 21, 1927.

The postcard, still in pristine condition, appears to be sent from a man to a woman addressed as Dolly Rix.

Ms Cook said: "I couldn't really believe it when I came across the postcard — I thought it was a wind-up. It is dated June 21, 1927, and has the Ipswich postmark for Monday, meaning they only received it this week.

"It has a picture of Exeter Cathedral on the front and a George V stamp costing one penny, on the back."

Ms Cook, a mother-of-two, added that it was hard to identify what the writing on the back of the card said. It appears to be from a man telling a woman about his holiday and mentions a trip to the races at Ascot. He describes seeing women in 'wonderful dresses' and men in 'cashmere clothes'. It is signed 'love from Bobs'.

Ms Cook said: "Although the card hasn't faded the writing is really small and difficult to make out. Why it took so long to deliver God only knows. You hear about these things but 83 years must be a record."

A spokesman for Suffolk Records Office confirmed that a Horace Phillip Reed Rix lived at Ms Cook's address in 1927. She is now keen to find out whether any relatives of Mr and Mrs Rix are still living in the area.

She added: "For the time being I'm going to keep the postcard on my mantlepiece but it would be fascinating to find out if the name on the postcard means anything to anyone.

"I would also like to know why it took Royal Mail 83 years to get it delivered to my house!"

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "It is extremely unlikely that this item of mail was in our system all this time. It is difficult to speculate what may have happened, but almost certainly it was put back in a post box very recently, as we regularly check sorting offices and machines are cleared."

If anyone can throw any light on the postcard they should contact the Echo newsdesk on 01392 442238 or email echonews@ expressandecho.co.uk