File photo dated 14/01/2009 of a post box in Bristol as it has been announced in the Queen's Speech that the government will modernise Royal Mail. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date:Tuesday May 25, 2010. See PA story POLITICS Speech. Photo credit should read: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Homeowners and businesses in Norfolk have spoken of their frustration at getting their mail delivered days, and even weeks, late.

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The EDP has been flooded with complaints from people who say their post has been delayed due to bad weather and a Christmas backlog.

In one case a Christmas card sent between friends in Great Yarmouth who only live half a mile apart was delivered nearly three weeks after it was posted.

And in similar scenes a North Walsham man who was sent documents on the Thursday before Christmas from nearby Gresham only got them on Thursday.

Among the other complaints was a business in Yarmouth which delivers beads who said packages had still not been delivered to customers.

Bob and Maureen Price were stunned to see a Christmas card arrive at their Marine Crescent home in Yarmouth on Wednesday from their friends, Bertie and Maureen Collins, who live in nearby Lawn Avenue – about a half a mile away.

The Collinses’ card was post marked December 17. Mr Price said: “It is not very good is it? In fact it is a bit of a joke. We see each other at Rotary meetings so we could have exchanged cards there instead.”

Gordon Richardson, a mortgage broker from Hamilton Close, North Walsham, only received some identification documents from a customer in Gresham on Thursday after they were sent out on the Thursday before Christmas.

He said: “It is very inconvenient. I can only make so much allowance for Royal Mail’s performance for the bad weather and Christmas backlog.”

Yarmouth business Sanctuary Beads, which delivers beads ordered from the internet, said many orders sent out on December 27 had still to be delivered and two customers had to be reimbursed. Owner Paul Platten said: “About 20pc of my emails are from customers asking where their orders are. I think Royal Mail has deteriorated and it just seems to depend on which sorting office you have to see if you get your mail on time.”

In Thorpe Marriott, near Norwich, Pat Dorrington, 70, said she had received half a dozen Christmas cards after the festive season while a 63-year-old woman from the same village who did not want to be named said she received a Christmas card on Tuesday after it was posted in Halesworth on December 9.

David Elsegood, from Aylsham, told the EDP he sent a parcel of Christmas presents on December 14 to his grandson in Manchester and they only arrived on Tuesday.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are very sorry if any Christmas mail posted by the recommended posting dates did not arrive in time.

“We did deliver by Christmas the vast majority of the almost two billion letters, cards, packets and parcels posted in the run-up to Christmas.

“We always welcome hearing from any customer who has a concern or a query about the service and we would urge them to contact our customer services team on 08457 740740 or through our website www.royalmail.com.”