A postman is facing prosecution for withholding mail from a Fife postcode for up to two years.
The Kirkcaldy-based Royal Mail staff member had been deliberately keeping hold of post from the KY1 postcode, which covers a large part of the town.
As a result the unnamed employee was suspended but then later resigned. However, he could still be prosecuted. It is understood that Royal Mail has redelivered as many letters and parcels as it could but not all were recovered.
Royal Mail said it was unable to say how many households may have been affected or for how long.
A spokesman for Royal Mail said it took a “zero tolerance” approach to any dishonesty.
He added: “That stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women, who are honest and hard-working and who do all they can to protect the mail and deliver it safely.
“We will always seek to prosecute the tiny minority of people who abuse their position of trust we have now redelivered all the mail recovered to customers.
“If customers have any further queries, they should contact Royal Mail Customer Services on 08457740740.”
The case echoes that of Edinburgh postman Gary Kinghorn, who was given community service in November 2012 after admitting hiding thousands of letters and parcels in his attic and car between January and July of last year.
Kinghorn was employed to carry out deliveries in Musselburgh, but concealed 2,500 pieces of mail and was later given a 200-hour community payback order.
A freedom of information request revealed last year that each day in the UK one postman is sacked for stealing mail and more than 1,700 were prosecuted and dismissed between 2008 and 2012.
The probe also also revealed that complaints about missing mail had soared by 24% last year.