500,000 stranded letters en route from London to Dublin

More than half a million letters and cards that have been stranded in London for almost a week are on their way to Ireland today.

An Post said last night that the mail had been delayed at a depot in London for several days due to what the Royal Mail had called an operational error.

There were fears that the letters would not be delivered in time for Christmas, but An Post spokesperson Anna McHugh said the company was determined the get the vast majority of items to their destination by tomorrow.

She said the remainder would be delivered as soon as possible after Christmas.