A LETTER posted by a long-lost army pal from Australia reached veteran Dick Chubb in less than a week - despite being posted to the wrong address.

Mr Chubb, of Alton Pancras, was amazed when the letter dropped on his doormat with the simple address 'somewhere in Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England, UK'.

He left Cerne Abbas 46 years ago but was tracked down by the Royal Mail.

The letter was from Corporal Ray Littlemore, an army friend he last saw in 1961 during National Service at Aden in the Middle East, who has since married, had two sons and lives in Kenwick, Western Australia.

Mr Littlemore wrote on the envelope: "British Post Office, if you can deliver this I would appreciate it." In the letter itself, he wrote: "I do not know if you will ever get to read this, I took a chance that you still live in Cerne Abbas.

"Old mate, I have never forgotten you, many a time I have thought about writing to you on the off-chance you will receive my letter."

The letter was posted on January 13 and arrived in Alton Pancras six days later, on January 19.

Delighted Mr Chubb said: "I have lots of memories from when we used to serve together. I last saw him 43 years ago.

"I was so pleased and wrote back straight away; I should like to meet up with him, but Australia is a long way away."

Mr Chubb found out that a network of local contacts had conspired to find his right address: a retired postman got in touch with a born-and-bred Cerne Abbas resident, who contacted Mr Chubb's sister, who forwarded the letter to her brother.

Mr Chubb, 66, who is divorced and has one son, said: "I think it is quite funny and most unusual, because I left Cerne Abbas in 1968.

"My sister still lives there. She married and changed her name, but they managed to get hold of her - I think the postmen did a marvellous job.

"And it reached me in six days, that is the amazing thing - sometimes you can post a letter here and it seems to take ages."

Royal Mail spokesman Dan Panes said: "We get thousands of items on a daily basis that are improperly addressed. It is natural for our staff, who have excellent working knowledge of the area, to try and get the mail through as quickly as possible."