Two postcards have arrived at a Kent home – 50 years after they were sent.

The deliveries came through Steve Senior's letterbox, in Lenham, near Maidstone, earlier this week from Scotland and Denmark.

Steve originally ignored the first postcard which was addressed to a Mrs Freeman as he had “no idea about the name”.

It was not until the next morning he clocked it was sent more than half a century ago.

The 60-year-old said: “I thought it looked a bit old, handwritten, but who sends postcards nowadays?

“I put it down on the side and forgot all about it.

“I picked it up again, had another look at it, and noticed it was a four-and-a-half pence stamp.”

Searching on the internet he found the price would mean it was sent in 1974 meaning it had taken 50 years to get from the north of Scotland to Kent.

The first postcard is from a man named Richard and is addressed to Mrs Freeman.

In his writing, he tells how he is camping and about to set off on a hike.

The receiver added: “I am going to ask around the neighbours, see if anybody knows Mrs. Freeman, but we have not in the three years and we have not met anybody that has lived here that long.

“It is a nice story. Why has it taken 50 years to get here? Who is Richard and Mrs Freeman? Where has it been since then?”

Steve moved into his Platt’s Heath property three years ago but has never had any other post like this.

He was shocked to find a second card, also sent from 1974, had arrived in the post the next morning from Denmark.

Steve imagines they must have been lost in the Post Office somewhere. He joked: "Post arrives late everywhere but 50 years for a first class stamp is pushing it.”

Both stamps have been recently franked, with National Holocaust Memorial Day markings.

A Tonbridge Stamp collector agreed that the cards would have been sent in 1974 but they have been franked for 2024.

Peter O’Keefe said there is a chance they have been “stuck at the bottom of a postal bag.”

However, he believes it is more likely “somebody out of amusement stuck them back in the post box” recently.

He added: “I cannot fathom even a guess why they would put these in the post. Quite frequently the Post Office does not notice these things.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Incidents like this are very rare and we are certainly curious about how these postcards came to appear in our system after such a long period of time.

“Upon discovery they were delivered to the address, as is our duty.”