THE Royal Mail left an 84-year-old without her Mothers' Day card because it was 5p short on postage.

Martyn Stuart, of Upper Parkstone, Poole, has made sure his mum Marjorie Thompson received a card in the post every year.

But this Mothers' Day she was left distraught when her card never arrived, thanks to the recent changes in postal charges.

Though he posted it first class, and it in plenty of time, Martyn, 57, had unwittingly selected a card big enough to be classed as a "large letter", which is more expensive to send.

And when he collected it the following Wednesday from Christchurch sorting office he not only had to pay the excess, but also a £1 surcharge for handling He said: "I was absolutely furious. For the sake of 5p they wouldn't deliver my mum's card. She was absolutely distraught. It's the one day of the year she can look forward to receiving a card and Royal Mail have made it their policy not to deliver if they're too big."

He added: "She a sweet lady who would do anything for anyone. To be treated like this is disgraceful."

Marjorie, who is a full time carer for her husband, who suffers dementia, added: "It's crazy. I think of all those poor people who didn't get their cards. There must be a lot of disappointed mums all over the country."

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said when new charges were introduced last August there was a six-month "grace" period when they would still deliver letters with incorrect postage. That ended at the beginning of March - a few weeks short of Mothers' Day.

She added: "We handle 84 million items a day and if we don't adopt the right charges it would mean massive losses for us. It wouldn't be fair to charge some people less than others."

She said the some card manufacturers had started labelling cards with L for letter, and LL for large letter, which the Royal Mail was encouraging. "Large letter" stamps have also been introduced.

  • For more information about the new postal charges visit royalmail. com/size